Roll For Initiative
by Sith Droideka
Summary: Athena ropes Phoenix, Apollo, Trucy, Pearl, Blackquill, Klavier, Edgeworth, and Kay into playing Dungeons and Dragons. That's about it.
1. Chapter 1

**I know I should be working on Sleeping Turnabout right now but I saw this super-old request for this on the kink meme, and I've been thinking about this for a while, so hey.**

**And yes, I do play Dungeons and Dragons myself. In fact, my DM was a huge help in this fic.**

* * *

Dungeons and Dragons.

Sure. Why not. It was Athena's idea, and hey, what could possibly go wrong? So Phoenix had agreed to let her commandeer the office for one night. All the employees of Wright Anything Agency were obliged to play, she said, and Trucy invited Pearl along… then, as it turned out, Athena had also demanded that certain rival prosecutors come along, and Edgeworth had brought his assistant.

So here they were. Apollo, Trucy, Pearl, Phoenix himself, Edgeworth, Kay, Klavier, and Blackquill all sitting around a table, at the head of which sat Athena, with a folder propped up in front of her. In front of each player were a few papers - a character sheet - and some dice. To Phoenix's marginal surprise, the character sheets of Blackquill, Kay, Trucy, and even _Edgeworth_ were already filled out. They had apparently played before. (And judging by Athena and Blackquill's bickering, Athena had slashed the veteran character's levels back down to one in order to fit in with the rest of the 'guild'.)

Phoenix had no idea what was going on.

"Whatever," Athena snapped at Blackquill, then turned back to the rest of the group and clapped her hands together, "okay, guys, raise your hands if you've never played D-n-D before!"

Apollo, Phoenix, and Klavier dutifully raised their hands. Pearl sheepishly looked at her blank character sheet and muttered something about 'losing Zanne'.

"No problem," Athena said cheerfully, "looks like the first thing we need to do is make some characters! Everyone get out your dice!"

"And if we already have characters?" Kay said.

"I know! Let's bake something!" Trucy said, "we can eat it once we start playing!"

"Why not," Edgeworth said, and he, Trucy, and Kay disappeared into the kitchen. Blackquill stayed at the table silently. Phoenix wondered how long this was going to take.

_Three hours_ (and a few fresh tins of muffins) _later_, everyone was sitting back at the table. For what was surely not going to be the first time that night, Phoenix felt a little in over his head. Already he was thinking that if he heard the names of _any_ of the gods available to worship in the Dungeons and Dragons universe ever again, he was going to throw up.

"Now that everyone's settled," Athena said, like three hours of explaining every little thing about character creation hadn't dampened her mood at all, "why don't we go around and introduce ourselves? Our characters, I mean," she added, catching Apollo's confused expression. "Apollo, you start."

"Um," Apollo said, looking down at his newly-filled character sheet, "I'm… a dwarf barbarian named Heironeous." Phoenix twitched. "And I'm, um, looking to avenge the death of my… brother?"

"Cousin," Blackquill said, "you said cousin earlier."

"I'm looking to avenge the death of my cousin," Apollo amended, "by getting him arrested. Since my alignment is lawful good."

"Good enough," Athena said, "next!"

"The great and powerful Eusapia Vahista, dragonborn mage extraordinaire!" Trucy said, dramatically throwing her arms out, "chaotic evil! _I will burn everything you love to the ground!_"

"Ch-chaotic evil?" Phoenix sputtered.

"Yeah!" Trucy said, "it's the most fun alignment!"

"Yep," Athena said (Phoenix caught sight of Blackquill exaggeratedly rolling his eyes) "Okay, next!"

"My name's Zanne," Pearl said, shuffling her character sheet, "I'm a lawful good human cleric, so it's my job to make sure no one dies."

"Except for the bad guys," Trucy added, "who aren't me."

"_Human_?" Blackquill said in distaste, "of all the species to chose from, you chose human?"

"Humans are boring," Kay added.

"Next," Athena said before Pearl could defend herself, "that's you, Boss."

"Oh, yeah," Phoenix said, "so, I'm a, uh, dragonborn ranger named… Phoenix. Phoenix Vahista. Yeah. Lawful good," he added as an afterthought.

"Daddy, that's _my_ character's last name!" Trucy said at the same time Edgeworth said, "Of _course_ you would name your character after yourself."

"I couldn't think of anything," Phoenix said defensively.

"Eh, whatever," Trucy said, "I know! Phoenix can be Eusapia's daddy!"

"I don't think the ages work out," Athena said.

"Phoenix can be Eusapia's older brother!"

"Which means it's Phoenix's job to look after Eusapia, nein?" Klavier said, looking amused, "have fun with that."

"Okay, next," Athena said, pointing at Edgeworth.

"Suchiru Niboshi," Edgeworth started, but Pearl cut him off.

"Isn't that the secret identity of the Steel Samurai?" she said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Edgeworth said, then continued: "tiefling, war-"

"I'm pretty sure that's the secret identity of the Steel Samurai," Trucy said.

"-lord, lawful neutral alignment."

"I am certain that that is, in fact, the secret identity of the Steel Samurai," Blackquill said.

"Pure coincidence, I assure you," Edgeworth said, unruffled, "anyway, as a warlord, I am assumed to be the leader of this guild."

"Unless anyone has any objections to this," Athena said. No one did. "Next! That's you, uh… actually, I don't think I've met you before."

"Kay Faraday!" Kay said, "I'm Mr. Edgeworth's assistant!"

"Part-time assistant," Edgeworth said.

"Hey, I'm a busy woman," Kay said.

"Okay," Athena said, "anyway, your character, por favor?"

"I'm a chaotic good halfling rogue named Tryn Baggins!" Kay said, "and you all might want to remember to roll perception checks any time you're alone with my character." She laughed.

"…Baggins?" Klavier said, raising an eyebrow, "am I the only one here who isn't a huge nerd?"

"You're playing Dungeons and Dragons with us, Prosecutor Gavin," Apollo said, rolling his eyes, "it is way too late to claim that you aren't a nerd."

"I know you're not allergic to first-name basises, Herr Forehead."

"I'll call you Klavier when you call me Apollo instead of 'Herr Forehead'."

"Besides," Kay said, ignoring the squabbling lawyers, "the Baggins thing was a joke. It's not like last names are necessary anyway."

"C'est vrai," Athena said, "okay, next!"

That would be Klavier. He flipped his hair and said, "I'm Crow Zyg, a half-elf bard. I'm neutral good, and all the ladies love me, of course. Seriously," he added, holding up his character sheet, "I have a 27 charisma stat."

"30," Edgeworth said, holding up his own character sheet. Klavier frowned.

"If you're a bard," Apollo said, "does that mean you're going to actually sing? As in, in real life?"

"Offensichtlich," Klavier said, grinning.

"'Obviously,'" Edgeworth translated in response to Apollo's confused look, which now turned into a scowl.

"Oh, goody!" Trucy said. Apollo scowled some more.

"And last but not least, Simon!" Athena said.

"I am a lawful evil elf named Jin Yuugami," Blackquill said, "and I am a samurai."

"He's an assassin," Athena said.

"I am a samurai."

"There's no such thing as a samurai class, Simon," Athena said, "the best you can do is assassin with sword proficiencies."

"I am a samurai."

"We get it," Phoenix said.

"Ja genau," Athena said, stuffing her face with a muffin, "looks like we're ready to start."

"Finally," Apollo groaned.

"So. Let's start out with… you are all in a tavern," Athena said…

_Kind of a seedy tavern. Not really the way Phoenix Vahista liked it, but his younger sister, Eusapia, seemed to enjoy it plenty. Especially since she had started chatting to a halfling named Tryn. They were plotting to start up one of those rigged gambling games, in order to cheat the other patrons out of their hard-earned gold and silver and copper. Phoenix wondered if he should stop them, but Eusapia had agreed to give her portion of the "wins" to Tryn since she was only in it for the thrill of ruining lives… and Tryn already said that she would donate at least half of her wins to the local pet shelter._

"Wait," Athena said, "I don't think Calinport has pet shelters."

"Then I'll use the money to found one," Kay said.

Athena pondered this for half a second, then said, "Fair enough."

_Phoenix, having nothing better to do, decided to join an elf and a tiefling at the bar. As soon as he sat down, the tiefling pointedly got up and shifted several stools down, all without breaking his conversation with the elf._

_ "Hey," Phoenix said, "what's your problem?"_

_ The tiefling - Suchiru - gave him a look that plainly said 'I don't even want to be _seen_ associating with a dragonborn, let alone actually interact with one'._

"Wait," Phoenix said, "what?"

Edgeworth sighed. "Dragonborn and tiefling are race enemies, Wright."

"Oh," Phoenix said. Had Athena mentioned anything like that? "Does that mean you won't let Trucy and I into your guild?"

"Don't worry," Edgeworth said with a smirk, "I am a reasonable tiefling. You two would just have to prove your use first."

_Phoenix turned away from the tiefling and instead tried to strike up a conversation with Jin, the elf. "Hi," he said, "nice night, isn't it?" The elf only grunted in response._

_ Okay. This was going nowhere. Phoenix decided to order a drink, but upon checking his bag, found that he had no money, not even a single copper. Tryn burst into a spontaneous bought of laughter. Sighing, Phoenix wandered off. He found a human and a dwarf sitting at one of the tables._

_ "So, um, Heironeous," the human, Zanne, said, "I really like your name."_

_ "Uh, thanks P- Zanne," Heironeous said._

_ "Heya," Phoenix said, walking up to them, "what's up?"_

_ "Nothing," Zanne said._

_ "Although I think there's something going on over there," Heironeous said, pointing over to where Eusapia and Tryn were. Phoenix looked over. Sure enough, the two of them had snared a certain half-elf, although he didn't seem to mind being conned out of his money. He was instead laying cheesy pick-up lines thickly on the two girls._

Phoenix raised an eyebrow at Klavier. Klavier shrugged.

_Phoenix, followed by Zanne and Heironeous, walked over to the half-elf. "Excuse me," he said, "but what do you think you're doing with my… er, little sister?"_

_ "Nothing," Crow said, flipping his hair and smiling, "after all, it's a free country, ist es nicht?"_

_ "Uh," Phoenix said._

"Roll a knowledge check to see if you know what language he's speaking!" Athena said, clapping her hands together.

"…I was not aware that German exists in the D-n-D universe," Blackquill said.

"We can pretend he's speaking, uh…" Athena reached over and grabbed Klavier's character sheet, then frowned, "wow, Prosecutor Gavin. I totally forgot how low your intelligence score is! You only speak Common!"

"…yes, and?" Klavier said.

"I'm guessing that means you should stop speaking German when you're in-character," Apollo said, smirking.

"…no problem," Klavier said confidently.

"Anyway," Athena said.

_"You should watch out for that one," Zanne said quietly, pointing at Eusapia, "she's not very nice."_

_ "Too right!" Eusapia said, then cast Could of Daggers on Crow._

"What," Klavier said loudly.

"And I got a nat-20, too," Trucy said brightly, then rolled a six-sided die, whistling.

"What," Klavier said again.

"14 damage," Athena said, looking over at Trucy's roll.

"What."

_Crow stepped back, shocked, then stepped forward again and attempted to slap Eusapia. Attempted being the key word here, since he accidentally hit Jin instead. Somehow._

"Hey!" Klavier protested, "he's on the other side of the room!"

"No damage, Simon," Athena said, ignoring Klavier.

"Fräulein Cykes!" Klavier said reproachfully.

"It's your own fault you rolled a one," Blackquill said.

_Jin got up from his seat at the bar and joined the little group, still not saying anything. While he glared at Crow, he had yet to actually make a move. A short while later, Suchiru also walked over, standing conspicuously apart from Phoenix and Eusapia but looking at the assembled group interestedly nonetheless._

_ "…well?" he said expectantly._

_ "W-Well what?" Crow said._

_ "Not you," Suchiru said, and addressed himself to Jin, "care to pay him back for that… impossible blow?"_

_ "I think," said Jin, "that the honor should go to the person whom he attempted to hit in the first place."_

_ Eusapia cackled, but Phoenix stepped between her and Crow._

_ "Hey," he said, "we shouldn't be fighting here."_

_ "Would you prefer to fight someplace else?" Suchiru said dangerously._

_ "Um," Phoenix said._

"Hey, Daddy, a little advice," Trucy whispered to Phoenix, "Uncle Edgeworth's character isn't really the type to settle things peacefully unless he thinks a fight won't end well for him."

"Huh," Phoenix said, "really?" He supposed it wasn't _that_ odd that Edgeworth's character should be so unlike him. He did seem to have the roleplaying skills for it, anyway.

_While everyone was watching Phoenix and Suchiru have a tense stare-down, Tryn climbed over the bar and started pilfering bottles of ale._

"So what do I do?" Phoenix whispered back, "if I get into a fight with him, he'd probably kill me. I have no idea what I'm doing."

"You can always try to talk your way out of it," Trucy said, "I mean, it's not like _Suchiru_ knows you don't know what you're doing."

"Hmm," Phoenix said, then asked Athena, "is it possible to bluff in this game?"

"Bien sur!" Athena said, "just roll a d-20!"

Phoenix picked up a twenty-sided die, shook it in his hand, and rolled. 19. He looked up at Edgeworth and smiled.

_"I don't think you want to get into a fight with me," Phoenix said._

_ "Really now?" Suchiru said._

_ "Yep," Phoenix said, "I'll have you know I'm a champion fighter. I can definitely kick your butt."_

_ "Really now?" Suchiru said again, his tone of voice much drier now._

_ "Do you not believe me?" Phoenix said challengingly. Suchiru shrugged. "Because I have been in plenty of fighting contests, and I have all sorts of medals! All you need to do is take one look at them and you'll know I'm someone to be afraid of!"_

_ "…do you have any of these medals with you?" Suchiru said._

_ "No, why would I?" Phoenix said._

_ Suchiru raised an eyebrow, then said, "very well. It's far too late to be getting into brawls anyhow."_

_ Meanwhile, Zanne had healed Crow. "Thanks, cutie," he said._

Which earned him another glare from Phoenix.

_"Well, as long as we're all here," Jin said, "you, dwarf. I believe I have heard of you."_

_ "You have?" Heironeous said._

_ "Yes. You are the vengeance-seeking dwarf, are you not?"_

_ "Oh, right," Heironeous said, "yeah, I'm looking for my brother's killer."_

_ "Cousin," Jin corrected._

_ "My cousins' killer," Heironeous said, "why, have you heard anything?"_

_ Jin gave an enigmatic smile. "Hmm," Suchiru said, "so there is a killer running free? Interesting."_

_ "Hey, we should hunt him down and kill him ourselves!" Tryn said, returning from where she was behind the bar, "for Heironeous' brother!"_

_ "Cousin," Jin said._

_ "Or we just hunt him down and kill him ourselves, for fun!" Eusapia said._

_ "…are you guys offering to help me?" Heironeous said._

_ "Yes!" Zanne, Tryn, Eusapia, Crow, and Phoenix said, but Suchiru and Jin both shook their heads._

_ "Come on," Tryn said, "let's do this - but we need you two, too!"_

_ "Your 'guild' is a complete loss without a proper leader," Jin said._

_ "And I refuse to join a guild with two _dragonborn_ in it," Suchiru said._

"Can you not be so stubborn for, like, three seconds," Phoenix muttered.

"I'm merely being in-character, Wright," Edgeworth replied.

_"Hey, what's going on over here?" a brown-haired human girl walked over. She appeared to be one of the tavern's patrons. Maybe. The tavern's barmaids didn't actually wear uniforms, so it was a little hard to tell-_

"Athena, focus," Apollo said.

"Right, sorry," Athena said.

_"Nothing," Phoenix said, bluffing again._

Three.

"Ooh," Trucy said, "that didn't go so well, Daddy."

_Phoenix's answer only made the human girl more suspicious. "You guys aren't doing anything illegal, are you?"_

_ "Uh… no?" Eusapia said._

_ "Hey, wait a minute!" the human girl said, grabbing the cards that Eusapia and Tryn had been using to scam the other customers, "this - this is _wrong_, I hope you know!"_

_ "I didn't know they were doing anything bad!" Zanne cried._

_ "None of us did!" Heironeous said, then muttered, "except maybe for Ph… Eusapia's older brother."_

_ "Huh? Did you say something?" the human girl said, turning to Heironeous, then her eyes widened, "ooooooh, hi. My name's Keylith!" She batted her eyelashes at Heironeous._

_ "Uh," Heironeous said, _"Athena, what the heck are you doing?"

"Shh!" Athena said, "it's all a part of the plan!"

"What plan?" Kay said.

_Crow sidled up to Keylith. "Hey, fr- baby. I'm pretty and you're cute. Together we'd be pretty cute!"_

_ The rest of the not-quite-official-yet guild reacted with various amounts of cringing._

Klavier rolled a five on his diplomacy check.

_"Ew," Keylith said, "what kind of girl do you take me for?" She slapped Crow. Crow attempted to back off, but she tackled him, knocking him into Eusapia, who tried to cast Magic Missile on him._

_ "Again?!" Crow yelled, but Eusapia's spell missed, instead flying past him, ricocheting off the bar, and hitting a random patron in the back. He slowly stood up and turned around towards the guild - a great bear of a man, and very unhappy looking at that._

_ "Who did that," he said in a very fake-sounding Russian accent._

_ Crow pointed at Eusapia, but everyone else pointed at him._

_ "Please don't hurt him!" Zanne pleaded. (Tryn stole the Russian accented man's bag.)_

_ "Oh, so you're all with him, then?" the man said, then cracked his knuckles._

"Okay, everyone, roll for initiative!" Athena shouted.

"_Thanks_, Gavin-dono," Blackquill said, grabbing his dice.

"I'm not the one who cast Magic Missile in a crowded tavern!" Klavier said indignantly, glaring at Trucy, who was unconcernedly scarfing down Cheetos.

Half an hour of frantic dice rolling (and a whole lot of yelling) later, _Crow was running down the streets of Calinport, closely followed by Zanne and Heironeous, then Tryn, Eusapia, and Phoenix, with Suchiru and Jin bringing up the rear._

_ "I can't believe you burned down the whole tavern!" Zanne yelled at Eusapia._

_ "It was tacky!" Eusapia yelled back._

_ "The police are after us now, aren't they," Phoenix said, "whatever happened to our 'lawful' alignments?!"_

_ "I don't want to be thrown in a dungeon!" Heironeous said, "I still need to catch my brother's killer!"_

_ "Cousin's killer," Jin corrected._

_ "Just shut up and run," Crow said._

_ "Wait," Suchiru said, "I have a plan."_

_ "A plan?" Tryn said, "for us?"_

_ "Yes," Suchiru said, "to the docks!"_

_ They all changed direction and ran towards the docks instead. They could hear the police running in parallel streets, but they managed to evade them, although there were some pretty close calls._

"Polly," Trucy said, with a serious stare, "if you roll an eleven again, I am seriously going to kill you."

"Hey, Athena let me get away with it," Apollo said.

"You arrive at the docks," Athena said, "alright, Suchiru, what's your plan?" Edgeworth smirked.

_"Of course," Suchiru said, "you see that boat over there? All we need to do is hijack it."_

_ "Sounds good to me!" Eusapia said._

_ "Yeah, it's for the greater good, after all," Tryn said._

_ "I just don't want to die," Crow said, "let's do it."_

_ "…but that's grand theft!" Heironeous protested._

_ "It can be easily covered up," Jin said._

_ "What do we need to do?" Phoenix said._

_ "Firstly, we need to drive the crew off of it," Suchiru said, then pointed at some nearby seagulls. "And you are a ranger, aren't you?"_

_ "…yes?"_

_ "Get those seagulls on the boat."_

"What kind of plan is this?" Phoenix whined, preparing to roll his dice.

"It's a better plan than attempting to bluff your opponent in the middle of an encounter," Edgeworth said.

"That was a completely legitimate strategy," Phoenix said.

"You're lucky we have a cleric in our party," Edgeworth said, glaring.

Pearl sipped her Mountain Dew with a very pleased expression.

"Just roll a 'handle animals' check, Boss," Athena said.

_"Okay, how am I supposed to get _on_ the boat?" Phoenix said. He had an armful of squawking, indignant seagulls, but so far none had decided to attack him. Yet._

_ "Simple. Who here is the strongest?" Suchiru said._

Papers shuffled.

_"I am," Heironeous said._

_ "Carry the dragonborn onto the boat," Suchiru said._

_ "…excuse me?"_

"Just roll, Apollo."

_Everyone else silently watched Phoenix silently sit on Heironeous' shoulders (it couldn't really be said that he climbed up on them, considering how short Heironeous was) without releasing any of his seagulls. Then Heironeous climbed slowly up the side of the ship as Phoenix attempted to shush the birds._

_ "This is ridiculous," Crow muttered._

_ "This is fun," Jin said somberly._

_ "Are you on the boat yet?" Suchiru asked._

_ "Eh, sure," Heironeous said._

_ "Now, Phoenix - _Phoenix was thrown for a short loop by Edgeworth using his first name, even if it _was_ roleplaying - _when I give the signal, throw those birds below-deck. Eusapia, when he does that, cast Thunderwave on the seagulls."_

_ "Okay!" Eusapia said. Hopefully she wouldn't burn down the ship with Phoenix and Heironeous were still on it. He wouldn't put it past her, honestly._

_ "Mr. Suchiru, when the crew members come running off the ship, can I heal them?" Zanne said, "since those birds are going to be really angry…"_

_ "As long as it doesn't slow us down, I don't see the problem," Suchiru said, "alright. Three… two… one… now!"_

Phoenix rolled a 20. Trucy and Pearl both cheered, then started rolling their own dice.

_Those in the guild not already on the ship stepped neatly to the side as the crew members exited, pursued by seagulls. Zanne attempted to heal the peck-marks on a few of them, but when Phoenix tossed down a rope, Tryn grabbed her and hauled her up to the ship._

_ "Is it empty?" Jin said._

_ "Yep!" Crow said, running back from where he had previously been checking the cabin._

_ "Good," Suchiru said, stepping up the wheel. "Cast off."_

"Wait. Who here actually knows how to pilot a boat?" Athena said.

"I already rolled an 18 on my knowledge check," Edgeworth said.

"…under?" Athena said.

"Sailing doesn't really fall under a category."

Athena shuffled some papers behind her folder, then looked up again. "Well, everyone also needs to roll a knowledge check, too, then. You need at least… um, three people also getting above a… 15, or else you're stuck at the dock."

_Fortunately, Crow, Jin, Eusapia, and Tryn all knew their way around a boat._

_ "Say goodbye to Calinport~" Crow sang, "Say goodbye, my baby~"_

_ "Oh, shut up," Heironeous said._

_ Phoenix looked at Suchiru. "So are we a team now?"_

_ Suchiru pressed his lips together silently for a second before saying, "I think you and your little sister have proved that even dragonborn can sometimes have their uses."_

_ "So we are a team now!" Zanne said, clapping her hands together, "a real guild!"_

_ "And it seems that Suchiru is our leader," Jin said._

_ "Naturally," Suchiru said._

_ "So what's our goal?" Tryn said, "helping the poor and needy?"_

_ "Perhaps," Suchiru said, "I certainly have my own reasons for allowing myself to be caught up in this madness…"_

_ "I vote we work towards the destruction of the world!" Eusapia said, "it'll be really exciting!"_

_ "Destruction?" Jin scoffed, "the world may stay intact. What it needs instead is a competent sovereign to rule over it with an iron fist…"_

_ "Um," Zanne said, "but what are _we_ doing? Most of us are good!"_

_ "I think we're searching for my brother's killer," Heironeous said, "so that we can bring them to justice."_

_ "…cousin's killer," Jin corrected._

_ "Yeah, that," Heironeous said._

_ "Sounds like a plan to me," said Phoenix._

_ "Yeah," Crow said, "besides, I think travel will do us all a lot of good."_

_ "Of course, then," Suchiru said._

_ There was a sudden clatter below-deck._

_ "What was that?" Suchiru said sharply._

_ "Hey, wait a minute!" Crow protested, "I already checked below-deck and there was nothing down there!"_

"You only got an 18 on your perception check," Athena reminded him.

"Which should be more than enough to tell if it's empty or not, ja?" Klavier said.

"Not if _I_ roll a 20," Athena said, grinning. Klavier groaned.

_"I'll go check below-deck," Phoenix volunteered._

_ "I'll go with him," Eusapia said._

_ "Zanne, you should go with them, too," Suchiru said, "whatever's down there may be dangerous."_

_ Phoenix, Eusapia, and Zanne and cautiously descended below. They peered carefully into the darkness, and Eusapia saw him first - a ginger-haired dwarf, who appeared to be at least slightly drunk._

_ "…hi," Phoenix said. The dwarf said nothing. "We're friendly," Phoenix said._

"You should probably roll for bluff," Athena said.

"But most of our guild is lawful good," Phoenix protested, "we _are_ friendly."

"Roll for diplomacy, anyway," Athena said, then shoved another muffin into her mouth.

_Something about Phoenix's tone of voice convinced the dwarf to trust him._

_ "Why don't you come up with us?" Zanne said. The dwarf nodded, and they took him back above-deck._

_ "Is this what was causing the clattering?" Crow said._

_ "He didn't even try to attack us," Eusapia said. She sounded almost disappointed._

_ "Who is he?" Suchiru said._

_ "Doesn't matter," the dwarf grunted, then looked directly at Heironeous. "You are Heironeous, the barbarian, correct?"_

_ "Y-Yeah, that's me," Heironeous said._

_ "The one with the dead brother?" the redheaded dwarf said._

_ "Cousin," Jin said._

_ "Yes, the Heironeous the barbarian with the dead cousin," Heironeous said, "I don't think I know you, though…?"_

_ "You don't," the dwarf said, "but I know you. Specifically, I knew your brother."_

_ "Cousin," Jin said. He seemed remarkably unweary of the constant need to make corrections._

_ "And I also knew your brother's killer," the dwarf said dramatically._

_ "What?!" everyone said (except for Jin. He just corrected it to "Cousin" again)._

Athena clapped her hands together, obviously pleased with herself. "Well, I guess that's where we'll end this session!"

"Wh- hey!" Apollo said, "OBJECTION!"

"Polly, my _ears_," Trucy said.

"I always leave things off on cliffhangers!" Athena said, "it's traditional!"

"It's to make sure we don't procrastinate on the next session," Blackquill said.

"When will that be?" Pearl said, biting her thumbnail.

"Um… tomorrow night?" Athena said cheerfully.

Edgeworth checked his watch. "At this point, I believe it would be more accurate to say 'tonight'."

"Dang, is it really that late?" Phoenix said, checking his own watch, then recoiling. _Three in the morning?!_ He looked back up. Only now did he notice how tired everyone looked - and how tired he felt. He suppressed a yawn, then said, "we can't do this every night…"

"I wanna see what happens next!" Kay said.

"Ja!" Klavier said, "Who is the orange-haired dwarf, and how does he know Heironeous' brother's killer?"

"…cousin," Blackquill said, "Heironeous' cousin was killed, not his brother."

"Whatever," Kay said.

* * *

**Keylith was a cameo of my DM. And now for my favorite part: WHY I PICKED THE NAMES I DID!**

**Heironeous is the name of the god of justice in the DnD universe. Eusapia is the name of a famous female magician (my DM gave that name suggestion) and Vahista is a term from Zoroastrianism, which I figured was appropriate because their "magi" eventually gave us the word for magic. Zanne is one of the suggested names for humans in the DnD book thing. Suchiru was my DM's idea - I think it's the Japanese word for steel, and Niboshi is Will Power's family name in Japanese. Tryn came from my DM, I suspect it's one of the suggested halfling names; Baggins is obviously a reference to Bilbo Baggins. Crow Zyg is the name of my own DnD character, who is an extremely flirty tiefling bard - and yes, Klavier is presenting his personality pretty accurately. And Jin Yuugami is Blackquill's name in Japanese.**

**Mind you, this is just a oneshot... for now. My DM expressed interest in taking over this fic, so after this, who knows? Maybe there will be more chapters uploaded, written by a different author~**


	2. Chapter 2

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM NORMAL AUTHOR!**

**I _am_ still writing fanfics, including the next installment of the Janaverse! However, due to the unsatisfactory upload schedules of both JvKG:AA and T-Minus Turnabout, _I have decided not to start uploading a fic until it is totally done!_ Fortunately, future installments of the Janaverse will be standalone cases, so I should have them written much faster. Also, keep an eye out for other fics involving vampires, weddings, and Fire Emblem: Awakening.**

**Author of this chapter: OH SWEET PELOR THAT TOOK WAY TO LONG. *Ahem* Sorry about that. So, uh, I'm Airey's Dungeon Master and the person that took far to long to write the extension of this fic then I should have. It was mostly me trying to figure out how to hold a candle to the flamethrower that is Airey's talented writing. Enjoy? I guess? [I'm new to this and have no clue what I'm doing in case that wasn't obvious]**

* * *

Trucy was eyeing the clock on the wall. Half-past two, it read. Daddy and Athena were out at a crime scene to investigate a case they had gotten a few hours before, and Apollo was either with them or running errands. She shrugged and wandered around the Agency for a minute before the phone rang. She ran to the receptionist desk, grabbing the phone.

"Wright Anything Agency! If you need a defense attorney or a magician, we've got you covered!" she said cheerily.

"Hi, Trucy. It's me, Pearl," the voice on the other end greeted her.

"Oh, hi Pearly!" Trucy replied, smiling despite not actually being in the same room as the other girl. "Do you need a lawyer? Is Auntie Maya in prison again?"

"Wha- No! No, nothing like that!" Pearl cried, "Mystic Maya's fine!" Trucy wasn't entirely sure if she should believe the young spirit medium.

"So what I can I help you with?" Trucy asked, wondering if Pearl herself had been framed.

"Oh, well, I'm not doing much of anything until tonight, so I thought I could come to the Agency early…" Pearl said.

Trucy replied, "Same here… Polly and Athena and Daddy are all working."

An idea then popped into her head. "Pearly!" Trucy suddenly cried into the phone, and she thought she heard Pearl drop it on the other end of the line.

"W-what?" she answered after a moment.

"Bring you-know-what!"

"Are you sure Mr. Nick will be okay with that?" Pearl asked, and Trucy could imagine her bitting her thumbnail nervously.

"Yeah, yeah! It'll be fine!" Trucy said, "just get here as soon as you can - I'm calling the others!"

"Okay… see you soon," Pearl said, hanging up.

Trucy began rummaging through the 'spare' room of the agency, which (much like the rest of the office) contained mostly her possessions. She held the phone up to ear with her shoulder while she listened to the dull ringing. After a moment, a voice spoke. "Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth speaking."

"Hi Uncle Edgeworth!" Trucy greeted, and she heard an exaggerated sigh on the other end.

"I'm working," Edgeworth told her flatly.

"I know! But this is important!" Trucy said.

"And what is so important that you needed to interrupt me?" he asked. Trucy started grinning.

"Pearl is coming soon, and she's bringing you-know-what!" she told him. There was silence on the other end of the line. "Do you want to-" she started.

"I'll be there in half an hour," Edgeworth cut her off. Then she heard the rustle of papers before he hung up on her.

Ten minutes later, she had dug out a sizable trunk with a large pair of crudely-painted dragons on the front. She was grinning from ear to ear, and remembered the one person she hadn't called. She flipped open the lid of the trunk, snatching a piece of paper inside that had a list of numbers. She punched in the last one on the list into the phone, and waited for an answer.

She heard someone answer the call, but no one spoke. Instead, a hawk was screaming into the phone and she heard Blackquill's voice in the background. There was a pause before the samurai/prosecutor said anything. "Apologizes, sir or madam. I have been teaching Taka to answer the phone should I be absent."

"Prosecutor Blackquill, not everyone speaks hawk," Trucy said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, and she decided to not continue down that path of conversation.

"Uncle Edgeworth and Pearly will be here soon!" Trucy told him, "we're doing you-know-what!"

"…I shall be there as quickly as I can," Blackquill answered, "Taka, fetch your special bandana-" she heard him start, but was cut short when he hung up.

She bounced to the door as soon as the bell rang, opening it to see who stood on the other side. Pearl, Edgeworth, and Blackquill and Taka where there, each holding a box or case of some kind. Except Taka, who was wearing a black bandana with a white dragon motif on it. "We begin immediately," Blackquill said, stepping past Trucy while Taka flew ahead.

"Okay!" Trucy replied, leaving the door open for the other two.

"Are you _sure _Mr. Nick won't mind?" Pearl asked again, "and Mr. Blackquill brought Taka, too… I thought that wasn't allowed."

"Pfft. I'd like Wright-dono to try and stop Taka," Blackquill scoffed, and the hawk's shrill cry rang out at the mention of his name.

"Well, I personally doubt Wright would have any say in the matter, regardless," Edgeworth said, beginning to sort through his case's contents.

"What makes you say that?" Trucy asked.

He answered with, "I'm the leader of the guild - anything I say will overrule his opinion."

"Well, it's kinda his office…" Pearl mentioned, but Edgeworth ignored her.

"Well, anyways, we've got to get started before the others get here!" Trucy told them; Pearl tilted her head to the side.

"We don't start for several hours. Why the hurry?" she said.

Edgeworth and Blackquill stared at her with blank expressions, and Trucy started laughing.

"Fey-dono, I thought you where taking this seriously," Blackquill said, Taka perching on his shoulder.

"N-nevermind… let's just start!" Pearl said, becoming nervous under the prosecutors' (and magician's) stares.

…

"Are you sure it's supposed to look like that?"

"Yes. I know what I'm doing - I made this, if you recall."

"Really? I didn't know you could sew so well, Uncle Edgeworth."

"…moving on."

…

"Mr. Blackquill, where did you get your armor from? It looks so real…"

"I believe you know I attend various conventions with Cykes-dono. I have made many a cosplay with her, so this was child's play."

"What's cosplay?"

"…"

"P-please don't stare at me like that!"

…

About two hours later, Trucy was admiring their work. Edgeworth, Blackquill, Pearl, and herself where now putting the finishing touches on their costumes, each dressed as their respective characters. Edgeworth was tweaking Pearl's dress, and Blackquill was polishing his sword and the Steel Samurai Spear that Edgeworth had brought. Taka had been exploring the office, and Trucy was fairly certain he had gotten trapped or lost in her magic props three or four times by now.

"…there," Edgeworth said after a minute, cutting the excesses thread off of Pearl's dress and stepping back. Pearl examined the hems of her costumes, twirling with a smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Edgeworth! It's beautiful!" she exclaimed, and Edgeworth gave her the ghost of a smile.

"But of course. It would be a shame for one my guild to be dressed inadequately," he told her, stowing away the small sewing kit in hand.

Trucy was about to ask him if her horns where straight when she heard the door of the office open. Everyone stared at it as Apollo entered, several bags in hand. He didn't appear to have noticed them yet. He had set the bags on the receptionists desk, sorting through them when he paused. He looked up, turning to face the others. "Greeting, Justice-dono." Blackquill said, Taka alighting on his shoulder. Apollo stared at them for a good minute before he dropped the bags, pivoted on his heel, and strode towards the door.

"Polly, where are you-?"

"I'm going home to sleep. None of you are real, I'm just sleep deprived," he told himself, closing the door behind him.

"Polly, wait! Come back!" Trucy called after him, but he didn't return.

"His loss," Blackquill sighed, scratching Taka's chin.

"…so when's Athena gonna get here?"

…

Eventually, the Dungeon Master walked through the door of the agency. She hesitated in the doorway when she spotted the few assembled party members.

"Darn it! I should have brought my costume too…" she mumbled, moving to set up the table.

"Why didn't you? I mean, I thought you liked dressing up with us," Trucy said.

"I do - I was kinda busy with the case, and I thought Boss would get mad, honestly. Since, y'know, the no bird thing," Athena said, "speaking of which, why is Taka here?"

"Taka goes wherever he pleases, whenever he pleases," Blackquill answered.

"So where's Daddy at? I thought he was investigating with you," Trucy said. Athena shrugged.

"I actually don't know. I thought he would be here," Athena said, looking around the room briefly. "Yeah, actually, where are the others? Klavier isn't here, and Kay and Apollo aren't here either."

"Gavin-dono is going to arrive shortly, Justice-dono is sleeping, and Kay… I have no idea as to her current location," Blackquill said.

"I believe she mentioned wanting to find something to begin making her proper adventuring attire out of," Edgeworth said.

"Well, they oughta get here soon. I've got a whole bunch of stuff planned for tonight!" Athena said, flipping through the many papers she had brought.

Trucy idled around the office for a few minutes before heading off with Pearl to attempt to bake before the others arrived. Blackquill debated the different attributes a Hawk Familiar would yield in comparison to a Falcon with Edgeworth. Athena sat behind her folder, a mischievous grin on her face as she contained her laughter.

_Oh, this is going to be a good night to be the Dungeon Master!_

Fifteen minutes later, Kay and Klavier had arrived and the group was almost ready. The only two missing where Apollo and Phoenix. Kay was about to ask Trucy where the pair where when the door opened. Everyone looked up, and Apollo probably looked at Edgeworth for less then a second before he retreated back out the door, not bothering to close it behind him. Again.

"Apollo, get back here! We were waiting for you!" Athena shouted. Trucy prepared to chase after him.

"Retrieve Justice-dono, if you would please, Taka," Blackquill said; the bird swooped out of the doorway with a shrill cry.

Less then a minute later, Trucy could hear Apollo's shouting from in the hallway. "CALL OFF YOUR ATTACK BIRD!" he shouted to Blackquill as he fled past the door, Taka pursuing him.

"Will you come and play with us this evening if I do?" the prosecutor asked, not looking up from his character sheet.

"Yes! Yes, fine! Just call him off!" Apollo said, trying to swat the hawk away from his face.

Blackquill put his fingers to his lips, whistling loudly. Taka immediately flew back to his owner, leaving Apollo with several scratches. The hawk was giving Apollo a hard stare until Blackquill stroked the bird's head, murmuring something to him.

"You can come in, Justice-dono. Taka won't bite," Blackquill said. Apollo hovered near the door.

"Yeah. But he still has talons," Apollo muttered, taking his seat.

"Hey, I'm here!" Phoenix's voice called, Trucy and Edgeworth turning their attention to the doorway.

"You're late," Edgeworth said dryly, an irritated look on his face.

"…why is Taka here? I thought I made it clear that birds aren't allowed," Phoenix said, staring at Taka while setting down a bag.

"Why where you so late, Wright-dono?" Blackquill asked, ignoring the question.

"I went to get a few things at the grocery store," Phoenix said.

"Apollo already went to get snacks earlier, Daddy. Right before he ran away," Trucy pointed out. Apollo mumbled something about lack of sleep.

"Um, we were out of mineral water," Phoenix said. Trucy shook her head. She held up the bottle of mineral water that she had been drinking from earlier.

"We're not out of it," she said. Phoenix sighed.

"…it's a special kind of mineral water," he told her, and she jumped from her seat and grabbed the bag from the reception desk.

"Trucy, no-!"

"Daddy!" she gasped at him, dropping the bag. The rest of the group had become interested by now, going quiet and listening carefully to Phoenix and Trucy's conversation.

"Trucy, it's not anything to got so upset over-" Phoenix tried to reason with her, but she ignored him and spun around to face Edgeworth.

"Uncle Edgeworth! He bought _grape juice_ again!" Trucy said, holding up a pair of large bottles. Edgeworth stood quickly, striding over and snatching them from her. He went into the small kitchen area, and Trucy heard the _pop_ of a cork before the sound of the liquid being poured down the sink.

"Did you just call him 'Uncle' Edgeworth…?" Klavier asked. Trucy ignored him as she watched her Daddy.

"Edgeworth - no!" Phoenix yelled, running into the other room. Trucy returned to her seat, listening to the pair squabble with each other. It kind of reminded her of an old married couple arguing. She shrugged the thought off, focusing on memorizing her spells while she waited for her Daddy to get over the loss of his grape juice.

"Now that every things been sorted out, we can finally start, ja?" Klavier said, running his fingers through his hair.

"Yes," Edgeworth said, ignoring the glare Phoenix was giving him. Athena nodded in agreement, fingering some of her papers.

"Okay! Let's get this show on the road!" the Dungeon Master said.

_The party was still gathered around the ginger dwarf, hanging in suspense._

_ "How do you know my brother?" Heironeous asked him, the dwarf shrugged._

_ "Cousin," Jin corrected._

_ "You git ta know a lot of people in this business," the dwarf said. Suchiru arched an eyebrow._

_ "And what business would that be exactly?" the teifling asked. _

_ The dwarf shook his head. "S'rry, but tha's na something I'm allowed ta talk aboot," he said._

"I'll make an Intimidation Check," Edgeworth said, about to roll a d20.

"Are you that's a good idea? I mean, we need his information, but he might be less likely to talk if you threaten him…" Pearl said. Trucy started laughing.

"Nah! Uncle Edgeworth can get _anyone _to talk!" she said, grinning evilly. "But actually, you bring up a good point, Pearly." She pulled out her own dice.

"What?" the young mystic asked.

"We need to _really _intimidate this guy - let me do it, Uncle Edgeworth!" Trucy pleaded. The prosecutor shrugged.

_Eusapia stepped closer to the ginger dwarf, a grin on her scaly face. "Hey, you dwarfs think pretty highly of your beards, right?" she asked._

_ He nodded. "'Tis me pride an' joy," he said, standing (slightly) taller._

_ "I'll burn it right off unless you talk," the dragonborn said, holding an orb of crimson flames in her claws. She pushed it closer to the dwarf, who backed up a pace or two._

"Okay, roll for Intimidation," Athena instructed.

19.

_"Please, lass, dunnae burn it! I beg of you!" the dwarf pleaded, looking like he might cry at the very thought._

_ "Start talking then!" she yelled at him, causing the dwarf to back away from her. Phoenix looked a bit frightened of his sister as well._

_ "Me and me crew smuggle rare alchemical ingredients from tha wilds of tha Moonshae Isles," he said, trembling, his eyes locked on the sphere of fire in her claws. He glanced at Heironeous. "Your brother was one of our best customers. 'E would even help me crew get through some more difficult areas of security." _

_ "His cousin." Jin corrected._

"Was my brother into alchemy?" Apollo asked, looking to Athena.

"Cousin. Was his cousin into alchemy," Blackquill corrected.

"That's what I meant."

"Sí, buenos señores!" Athena said, popping a Cheeto into her mouth.

_"Okay, if you know my brother -" _

_ "Cousin." _

_ "- then how do you know I am who you think I am?" Heironeous asked him. The dwarf was silent before he burst into a fit of laughter._

_ "W-what is it?" Heironeous said, noticing Suchiru and Jin snickering as well._

_ "'Tis hard ta forget hearing aboot a beardless dwarf!" the ginger dwarf laughed. Jin no longer bothered to stifle his own laughing._

"Athena!" Apollo said, looking annoyed, "you didn't say there would be anything odd about not having a beard!"

"Haven't you seen Lord of the Rings before?" Athena asked.

"No."

"Well, there's your problem," Kay said.

_ Heironeous glared at the other dwarf, who had fallen on the deck and was still laughing at him._

_ "Even most lady dwarfs have beards, lad!" he said. Heironeous remained silent, but had curled his hand into a fist._

_ "Hey! Stop making fun of Heironeous!" Eusapia said, "or else I'll give you that shave I promised you!" She shoved the fiery orb closer to his face. The dwarf ceased his laughing, holding his breath in fear._

_ "Okay - so this place has a bunch of illegal magic stuff on it, j - yes?" Crow asked._

_ "Yes! Yes! It's all below deck!" the ginger dwarf cried._

_ "I shall have a look and assess what all is down there," Suchiru said, striding below deck._

_ "I'm coming too!" Tryn added, running after the teifling._

_ "Tha's all well an' good, but by tha beard of tha King, get tha lass to put out tha fire!" the dwarf pleaded, inching away from Eusapia._

_ "Eusapia, stop harassing… um… what's your name?" Phoenix said, the dwarf relaxing when Eusapia blew out the fire._

_ "Name's Badrick," he said._

_ "Pardon, sir Badrick, but is there any live cargo below?" Suchiru asked, appearing above deck again with Tryn close behind him._

_ "Nah. Ta risky ta try and smuggle through," Badrick said._

_ "Well, then there's something down there that shouldn't be. I heard something down there," Tryn said. The party all turned to glare at Crow._

_ "I'm telling you, I looked down there! I throughly searched this boat!" Crow said, stamping on the ground._

_ "Maybe you should search better next time," Jin remarked, rolling his eyes._

"Fräulein Cykes, what was wrong with my roll? 18 is a good roll!" Klavier said, pouting slightly.

"Nothing's wrong with your roll, Prosecutor Gavin. It's just what's down there is better at hiding then you are at finding!" she said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, I hope it's not better then I can fight!" Trucy said, rubbing her hands together and giggling manically. Phoenix gave her a weary look.

_Eusapia, Zanne, Suchiru, and Tryn made their way down below deck, peering between the multiple crates and boxes stored beneath. Several minutes of searching later, they had yet to find anything._

_ "Can I just start shooting at stuff, Suchiru?" Eusapia pouted, kicking nonexistent dust. "Maybe I can scare out whatever's down here…"_

_ "If you have any spells that _won't _burn the only thing keeping us floating, then I suppose so…" the teifling sighed, crossing his arms and waiting impatiently._

"I'll cast Cloud of Daggers!" Trucy said, rolling her dice.

"Won't that put a bunch of holes in the ship?" Kay asked, frowning.

"Well, that depends on how high of a roll she gets-" Athena started, but was cut short by Trucy.

"I got a natural 20! Whooo!"

"…yeah, there's gonna be a hole or two," Athena said, flipping through one of her rulebooks.

_Suchiru glared at Eusapia while Zanne and Tryn scrambled to cork the several holes in the boat, running amidst the now-broken boxes. "Hey! I didn't burn the place! You said I couldn't burn it! I didn't burn it!" Eusapia defended herself. Suchiru rolled his eyes._

_ "What are you doing?! You're gonna sink us if you're not careful!" a voice cried, and a familiar brown-haired human jumped out from behind the few intact crates._

"What," Edgeworth said, staring at Athena.

"What?" she asked.

"How many people did Gavin fail to notice down here?"

Athena shuffled a few papers before looking up again. "I think that's the last of them, m'sieur."

_ "Who are you and how long have you been onboard?" Suchiru asked sharply, glaring daggers at Keylith._

_ "Help me save your boat first, then I'll answer that!" she said, trying to plug the gaps with her hands._

_ "I don't think that's gonna work, miss," Tryn said, reaching for the Keylith's messenger bag. A second later, the area around her hands flashed blue and was covered in a thick layer of ice._

_ "I kinda need my money back, halfling. Now would be preferable," Keylith said, holding out her hand for the coin purse Tryn had purloined._

"What? How did she notice?" Kay asked, checking her stats again. "I haven't been caught before!"

"Because I rolled a twenty on my Perception Check, believe it or not," Athena said.

"I choose not," Kay pouted.

_ "You're a wizard, too!?" Eusapia said, itching to duel with the other magic user. Keylith scoffed at this, turning to answer Suchiru instead._

_ "Keylith Summersong, swordmage. How long I've been on board depends on how long you have been, sir," she said. Suchiru raised an eyebrow._

_ "Swordmages channel their magic abilities through means of their weapon of choice, namely short- or long-swords," Suchiru said, "Therefore, as you are using your hands to directly channel magic, saying that you are a swordmage is illogical."_

_ "…geez, did I board the wrong boat? 'Cause I thought this was that group that started the bar fight, not Mr. Know-it-all and Co.," she commented, rolling her eyes. "And yeah, I've got a longsword. I just thought it'd be better to fix a hole by _not _stabbing it again."_

_"What business do you have on board, exactly?" Suchiru asked flatly, clearly annoyed with her. _

_ Keylith opened her mouth to answer, but stopped. "What's it to you?" she asked at length, shrugging._

Edgeworth sighed, rolling his eyes. "Do I need to Intimidate her as well?" he asked, annoyed.

"If that's what you want to do, sure," Athena shrugged, popping a cookie in her mouth.

"Well, I vote I give a shot at talking to her!" Kay said, a determined look on her face.

"I suppose…" Edgeworth said. Kay pulled out her dice.

_"Hey, you can tell me!" Tryn said, smiling at Keylith. _

_ "…and I should trust you because?" she asked, looking skeptical._

_ "Well, I'm a very trustworthy halfling!" Tryn said._

Kay rolled, and almost immediately tried to grab her die before anyone could read it. Trucy, on the other hand, grab at it to prevent her from hiding it. The pair struggled with each other for a moment, but Trucy ended up victorious.

"Oh dear," Trucy said, staring at the die in hand.

"What? What is it?" Phoenix asked.

"Two."

_"Yeah, well, I'm not so sure about that. You're the one that was scamming people with the dragonborn wizard in the tavern, aren't you?" Keylith said, giving Tryn a look of disapproval. Tryn laughed nervously._

_ "Well, y'see, I was going to use my wins to found a pet shelter in Calinport!" Tryn defended herself. Keylith rolled her eyes._

_ "It's Calimport. With an 'M', not 'N'," Keylith corrected._

"Is it? I thought you said it was Calinport," Kay asked.

"No, I said Calimport. Its easy to get it mixed up, though," Athena said.

"You got them mixed up last time," Klavier pointed out. Athena threw some popcorn at him.

_"Well, anyways, I've got some things to sort out, so I'll just be heading above deck now," Keylith said, stepping past Eusapia and Tryn._

_ "Or you can answer my question, Summersong. What is a swordmage such as you doing onboard this ship?" Suchiru asked her again, glaring at her._

_ "Or you could let me go on my way, and avoid conflict for the time being," Keylith said._

"I shall make an Intimidation Check," Edgeworth announced.

"So will I, then!" Athena grinned.

_There was a brief stare down between the two, but Keylith broke the silence._

_ "I can plug the holes in this boat just as easily as I can burn it to a crisp. Unless you want to be swimming back to Calimport, I think you'll leave me alone," she said, hands on her hips. Suchiru was silent for a moment, but then rolled his eyes._

"I call hacks," Trucy muttered.

"Shh," Phoenix said. He believed in Athena and her dice.

_ "You're taking orders from me now. Step out of line, I throw you over board," he grunted, stepping out of her way. Keylith strode above deck, ignoring the death glare from the teifling._

_ "So, I finished patching up the other holes…" Zanne said, standing back to admire her handiwork._

_ "Let's head back above deck before something else happens," Tyrn suggested, stepping around the frozen patch on the floor. Suchiru was already making his way upwards, the trio of girls following quickly after their leader._

_ The rest of the group had been trying to get more information out of Badrick, but appeared to be failing. Phoenix was the only one talking to him at this point, the rest having started to wander around the ship. Crow, once spotting Keylith, silently slid next to her._

_ "You couldn't stay away, could you fräu - baby?" he said, smiling slyly._

"…Fräulein Cykes, I think someone rigged my dice," Klavier whined.

"What makes you say that, Bekannte?" Athena asked. Klavier frowned. Edgeworth gave the both of them an odd look.

"I got a 1 on my Diplomacy check again."

"…wow, you're really bad at this, aren't you, Mr. Gavin?" Trucy said, earning a glare from the rock star.

_"Like I'd come here for _you._ I'm here for someone - er, something else," Keylith said, shoving Crow away from her._

_"And might you tell us what that would be?" Jin asked, pushing Crow to the side as he stepped towards her._

_ "Hey! Watch it!" Crow whined, Jin ignoring him._

_ "Maaaaybe," Keylith said, rocking on her heels, "What's it to you, anyways?"_

_ "Well, I might be able to offer some… assistance, in your quarry." Jin said, Keylith arching her eyebrows._

_ "What kind of assistance?"_

"Hey, wait," Phoenix said, "Doesn't he need to make some kind of dice roll?"

"No." Athena and Blackquill said in unison.

"…Why not? Klavier had to, didn't he?"

"Well, yeah," Athena said, "he made a Diplomacy check to try and flirt with her. Again."

"But Blackquill - er, Jin, I guess - is doing the same thing!" Phoenix said, "well, not flirting, but Diplomacy-ing!"

"And your point is…?" Athena asked.

"… nevermind."

_Keylith and Jin walked towards the other end of the ship, discussing whatever it was Jin had in mind, Keylith looking more pleased by the second. Suchiru glared after them, turning to Zanne, Tryn, Heironeous, and Eusapia._

_ "I don't like her," he said, looking annoyed._

_ "Huh? Why? Because she could beat you in a fight?" Eusapia asked, giggling._

_ "Silence," Suchiru growled._

_ "Well, it doesn't seem like she's done anything wrong… I mean, we're _literally_ in the same boat as her. We stole it, and she just tagged along," Zanne said._

_ "We didn't steal it!" Tryn cried, "we just put it under new management."_

_ "And where exactly are we going?" Heironeous asked, "Badrick isn't being exactly useful right now. He won't tell us anything about my brother's death!"_

_ "Cousin," Jin called._

_ "Whatever."_

_ "Wait, where is Mr. Badrick? I thought he was with Phoenix, but they seem to have gone…" Zanne asked, bitting her fingernail. As the human girl had said, the dragonborn and the dwarf were not anywhere to be seen._

_ "I say we take advantage of the time we have with Phoenix gone and try and do something useful for once," Suchiru sighed, pulling out several charts and maps from his Bag of Holding._

"Hey! I haven't done anything wrong!" Phoenix said.

"You haven't done anything right, either, Wright." Edgeworth said. Trucy and Kay giggled.

"Also where did I go, Athena? I'm on the ship, aren't I?" Phoenix asked, ignoring Edgeworth's comment.

"Well, why don't you have a look at this?" Athena said, handing Phoenix a slip of paper.

"What's this for?"

"Just read it."

"Alright, alright…" Phoenix said, unfolding the paper. He was only staring at it a moment before he rolled his eyes.

"What does it say, Herr Wright?" Klavier asked.

"Well, I-"

"Don't. Say. Anything!" Athena said loudly, several of the others at the table jumping at her sudden increase of volume and sudden flash of red from Widget.

"What!? What did I do!?" Phoenix cried.

"You don't tell the rest of the party unless it says you can, silly!" Trucy said, Athena nodding in approval.

"Well, you could have said that before you shouted at me…" Phoenix muttered. Blackquill chuckled.

"This is common knowledge, Wright-dono. I fail to see how you could not have known before hand," the prosecutor said, Edgeworth, Kay, and Trucy nodded sagely.

"Not all of us here are massive nerds, Herr Blackquill," Klavier said, brushing his hair to the side with one hand.

"I think you already said something like that before, Gavin," Apollo said, antennae drooping, "and you're not exactly in a position to defend your case seeing as you came _back_…"

_"So where did they go? Phoenix is the ranger, so he's the one who's supposed to track stuff," Tryn complained._

_ "I don't know - it's not like I'm going to stoop to tracking my idiot brother!" Eusapia said, _Phoenix giving her a warning look.

"Watch what you say, Trucy."

"I didn't say it - Eusapia did!"

_"Well, doesn't anyone else here know how to track things? Even the smallest lead could help," Heironeous said. _

_ "Well, I think Jin can, but he's still talking to Miss Keylith, I think…" Zanne said, glancing around to see where the two where currently. As if on cue, Keylith started squealing in excitement, hopping around Jin and looking like she had just won the lottery._

_ "Well, at least _someone's _made some progress…" Crow grumbled, still cross from being rejected. Twice._

_ Jin followed the enthusiastic girl back to the rest of the group, looking quite pleased with himself._

_ "What are you so happy about? My brother's gone missing!" Eusapia cried, glaring at Jin._

_ "Well, regardless to what Phoenix has done to get himself lost on a boat, I now have a lead as to where to go in search of Heironeous' cousin's killer," Jin said. Keylith grinned besides him. "Though there is a small catch…"_

_ "Go on," Zanne said._

_ "Well, the Swordmage here has given me this knowledge, but requires something in return."_

_ "Actually, I'm a Sorcerer with sword proficiencies…" Keylith said. _

_ "Oh? Would by chance a romantisch - er, romantic, evening in my company be what you desire, Fr - baby?" Crow said, a playful smile on his face._

_ "…If you try and pull anything again I swear I will throw you off of this boat," she said, glaring daggers at the half-elf. Crow slid to stand behind Zanne, as if hoping the cleric's presence would prevent Keylith from attacking him._

_ "No, actually, it is Heironeous that she would like an evening with," Jin said, "and that is the agreement we have come to."_

_ "Wait, you what!?" Heironeous cried, Keylith coming to stand besides him. _

_ "Her argument was quite… compelling," Jin said, "and it was unlikely that I was going to be losing anything in such an arrangement. Why wouldn't I agree?"_

_ "Because I would have thought you would know not to set me up with crazy wizard chicks!" Heironeous said._

_ "I'm not a wizard. And I'm not crazy. But it's okay, people get it messed up all the time!" Keylith said, smiling at him._

"Okay, really Blackquill, what the heck!?" Apollo cried, "You just _sold_ me to this - this woman is _insane_! What am I supposed to do!?"

"I say take your chance while you have it, Herr Forehead. I don't think you'll be getting any dwarfish Fräuleins throwing themselves at you anytime soon, my bartlos friend," Klavier said. Athena nodded enthusiastically.

"I had thought you would be more open to the idea," Blackquill said, Taka alighting on his shoulder.

"She's part of the reason we got into a bar fight in the first place! Well, I mean, Crow didn't help, but seriously! She's just as crazy as the rest of you guys!"

The rest of the group fell silent for a moment.

"I'm casting Magic Missile on Heironeous!" Trucy cried.

"Why!?"

"You called me crazy!"

"I cannot abide such insults," Blackquill growled, drawing his sword. The real one.

"Put that back!" Phoenix yelled.

_Eusapia prepared to fire her spell. Heironeous whisperd something to Tryn._

_ "Make it 6 and you've got a deal," the halfling said._

_ "Deal," the dwarf said. Eusapia flung a set of magic orbs at him as Tryn vanished in a puff of smoke._

_ "Eat Missile, dwarf!" she cried, conjuring another sphere of flame._

_ "Careful with those fireballs! You're going to set fire to the boat!" Keylith cried, drawing her sword._

_ "What, like this?" Eusapia asked, dropping the fire at her feet. No one moved for a second, staring blankly at the flaming orb that was now eating away at the planks._

_ "Put it out! Put it out!" Zanne cried._

_ Tryn was fleeing from Jin's hawk familiar, Gin, while holding the samurai's sword over her head._

_ "Heironeous, come with me!" Keylith said, grabbing the dwarf and running towards the edge of the burning boat._

_ "Put me down! Where are you even going!?" he cried; Suchiru was trying to put out the growing fire even as Eusapia continued to fuel it. Jin was now wrestling with Tryn for his sword, Crow singing dramatically behind them as Gin screeched overhead. Zanne was praying to her deity, having given up on putting an end to the chaos on her own._

_ "Okay, this is getting out of hand," Suchiru said, backing away from the now-towering flames. Eusapia was cackling manically, laughing, "Burn! Burn bright like the hellfire you were destined to be!"_

"I think your sister has lost it," Pearl said to Phoenix, who only buried his head in his hands.

"Did she have it to begin with?" Apollo asked.

_"We're going to have to jump overboard," Suchiru declared. Jin stood after having retrieved his sword._

_ "I think the swordmage is a step ahead of you, fearless leader," Jin said, pointing out to the water. Keylith was clinging onto a stray plank of wood, holding onto Heironeous with her other hand._

_ "Let go of me! I can swim on my own!" Heironeous shouted. Keylith ignored him._

_ Tryn leaped off of the boat with a excited shout, the boat burning brightly as the sun started to set on the horizon. Jin and Suchiru jumped after her, Eusapia hesitating until Zanne pulled her away from the bonfire. Crow was the last to jump._

_ "…where are Phoenix and Badrick? They don't appear to be with us," Suchiru asked, treading water while Jin started to break more planks off of the boat._

_ "I don't really know where they could have gone to - we're in the middle of the ocean!" Zanne cried._

_ "Maybe they got knocked off or something?" Tryn said._

_ "I believe I have found them," Jin said, pulling away another section of the boat's haul off to reveal Phoenix and Badrick drinking form large water skins. They both smelled strongly of alcohol._

_ "You've got to be joking," Suchiru said. _"Wright, come over here so I can slap you."

"No."

_ "Oh, hai guyz!" Phoenix slurred, raising the water skin and waving to them. "Iz it hot in here, or is dat jus' me?" He asked, a few of the burning boards falling around the pair._

_ "…I don't even have words to describe how ridiculous this is," the warlord said, eyes narrowed._

_ "You shink this is ridiculous!? How'sabout using a bunch of birds to hijack a boot?!" Phoenix said, stumbling towards the hole in the side of the boat._

_ "Sorry lads. I thought tha lad could hold his ale better then this…" Badrick said, taking another swing from his water skin._

_ "Dragonborn. You can't take them anywhere," Suchiru sighed as Phoenix fell head-first into the water._

_ "Hey! That's not true!" Eusapia said. Suchiru glared at her and pointed to the boat. "…oh, right. Sorry about that." She laughed nervously._

_ "This is why we can't have nice things," Zanne mumbled._

_ "Does someone want to go after him or are we just going to let him keep sinking?" Crow asked, peering over the edge of his board. Sure enough, Phoenix wasn't making any kind of attempt to resurface._

_ "Eh, he'll be fine," Eusapia shrugged. Zanne sighed, shaking her head before diving in after the dragonborn._

_ "Is she even strong enough to bring him up with her?" Keylith asked, still holding onto Heironeous._

_ "Perhaps not," Jin said, jumping in as well._

_ "Well, great," Suchiru said sarcastically, "our ranger is drunk beyond being useful, our healer is going to end up drowning herself trying to save him, and the only competent fighter here has thrown himself in as well."_

_ "Hey! I'm a good fighter!" Heironeous said, trying to free himself from Keylith's grip._

_ "And I've got my enchanted sword," Keylith added._

_ "…we're doomed," Suchiru sighed._

_ Once Zanne and Jin had retrieved and restrained Phoenix (who was now convinced that he was actually an aquatic hydra who's severed heads wouldn't regenerate unless he was submerged), _

"Trucy, please slap your father for me."

"Okay!" But Trucy lowered her hand when Phoenix gave her the "Proceed and you will be grounded for two months" look.

_ Badrick joined the others on the remains of the boat, the cargo having begun to sink into the depths of the ocean._

_ "Badrick, what exactly did you give him?" Zanne asked, trying to wring the water out of her hair._

_ "Dwarven ale. I brew tha stuff meself when tha other's are to busy to notice," he said, taking another swing. Zanne promptly snatched it out of his hand, dumping the contents of the flask into the water._

_ "Wha - What are ye doin' lass!?" he cried, trying to take the water skin back. Zanne held it above her head, out of the reach of the dwarf._

_ "Because we need as much of our team to be sober as posable, and this isn't helping right now!" she said, the Dwarf looking cross._

_ "I 'anne part of yer team…" he muttered._

"Well, now what? We're stuck out at sea, and the only one of us who might be able to point the way to land is completely betrunken," Klavier said.

"I could try and see if I could find anything useful," Kay said.

"Why exactly was Wright-dono drinking with the dwarf? I thought your original aim was to get information from him," Blackquill asked, giving Phoenix a look of disproval.

"He was quite persuasive," Phoenix said, glancing at the slip of paper in hand, "apparently."

_Just admit that you wanted to troll as hard as possible, Daddy,_ Trucy thought, sighing.

"Well, regardless, we need to find land. There are just as many beasts in the water as there are on the land," Edgeworth said. Blackquill nodded in agreement.

"I can send Gin to find land," the samurai said, checking his character sheet.

"Can someone help me get away from the crazy wizard with the sword?" Apollo asked, antennae drooping.

"Nah, you'll be fine. It's not like she'll hurt you or anything!" Trucy said, Athena looking like she might make a correction. She remained silent, but Widget had begun laughing.

_Jin sent Gin out to search for land, the hawk returning shortly after the sun had set completely. He alighted on his master's shoulder, whispering to him while the rest of the group waited for the results._

_ "Gin has located an island not far from here that we can take shelter on for the time being," Jin announced, "we shall set on our way immediately."_

_ "Roger that, mister Jin, sir!" Keylith said, gripping her board (and Heironeous) and swimming after the warrior._

_ "Put me down, for goodness sake! I can swim, you know!" Heironeous cried, struggling to free himself._

_ "Has anyone told you that you're adorable when you're upset?" she asked him, the dwarf responding with an irritated groan._

_ "Quit your whining - the rest of us have to swim by ourselves! You've got it girlfriend's doing all the work," Tyrn said._

_ "She's not my girlfriend!"_

_ "Not yet~!" Keylith said in a sing-song voice. Eusapia laughed at how hopeless he looked._

_ What felt like eternities later, the group had reached the shore of the island Jin had told them of._

_ "Land! Land!" Tyrn cried, scrambling onto the shore and kissing the ground (and promptly spitting out a mouthful of sand)._

_ "Yes, I believe we have arrived," Suchiru said, dragging Phoenix after him._

_ "I need my othzer heads! Imma all alone…" the dragonborn cried, trying to pull himself back into the water._

_ "For goodness sake, can some one shut him up?!" Crow sighed exasperatedly._

_ "The pleasure is mine," Jin said, striking Phoenix's head with the hilt of his sword. The dragonborn sank to the ground, unmoving._

_ "There. That'll keep his mouth shut," Jin said. Suchiru gave him an approving look._

"Yeah, love you too," Phoenix muttered. Trucy snorted.

_ "Well, I suppose if it works…" Crow said, prodding the dragonborn with his foot._

_ "Alright - Jin and I shall begin making a _controlled_ fire," Suchiru said, directing a glare towards Eusapia, "Eusapia, Zanne, and Heironeous, I want you to find food. The forest here should prove to be useful enough. Tyrn and Crow, you can start making some kind of shelter with the parts of the wreckage we have."_

_ "Hey! What about me?" Keylith said, glaring at the tiefling._

_ "You are staying here, where I can keep an eye on you. Same with Badrick."_

_ "What? Can't I go wi'h Heironeous?"_

_ "No," Suchiru said flatly. Keylith opened her mouth to retort, but shut it after a moment._

_ "Fine…" she grumbled, crossing her arms and pouting. Heironeous was already long gone, having left as soon as he could._

_ "C'mon Zanne! Lets go catch up to him!" Eusapia said, running into the forest._

_ "W-wait up, Eusapia!"_

_ The trio had only begun their hunt for food when Eusapia heard Zanne calling them._

_ "Guys? Do you see this, too?" the young cleric called, Heironeous and the dragonborn following her voice._

_ "What's the matter?" Eusapia asked. Zanne pointed deeper into the forest. A set of massive doors could be seen through a break in the trees. Heironeous pulled out his axe as he approached it._

_ "I wonder if there's anything we could steal inside…" Eusapia said, "you know. Wondering for a friend."_

_ "Maybe we should get Mr. Suchiru? He'll know what to do," Zanne said, looking nervous._

_ "Nah!"_

_ "We don't even know what's in there. We might not be able to handle it on our own, and frankly I don't trust you not to attack _me _instead of whatever is inside," Heironeous said, glaring at Eusapia._

_ "Fine…" she sighed, disappointed, "let's go tell Suchiru…"_

_ "It's okay, Eusapia. I'm sure you'll be able to wreck havoc once we have the rest of the party with us," Zanne said._

_ "I guess… it's just that it's much more satisfying when you take everyone by surprise, though…" Eusapia mumbled._

_ The three made their way back to the shore, finding Jin studying his map by the firelight as Tryn sorted through the samurai's belongings, Gin keeping a watchful eye on her. Suchiru was trying to get answers from both Keylith and Badrick, but neither of them seemed to be paying him any attention. Crow was sitting besides a poorly made lean-to, re-tuning his still waterlogged guitar._

_ "Guys! Zanne found some kind of building out in the forest!" Eusapia cried, only Suchiru turning to acknowledge her._

_ "Oh?" he said, Zanne nodding._

_ "There was a big door out in the middle of the forest, but I couldn't see the rest of it because of all the trees…" she said, "it looked really old. There was moss all over the handles."_

_ "We shall investigate further tomorrow morning-"_

_ "No! We should go now!" Eusapia complained, "I haven't gotten to kill anything in aaaaages!"_

_ "Does nearly drowning all of us not count?" Crow asked._

_ "No… everyone's still here!" she said, pouting._

_ "Well, I don't know if that's true for your bru- brother," Crow said, pointing to where Phoenix lay on the sand. He was still out of commission between the ale and Jin's attack._

_ "…he's always like that," she said._

"Hey!" Phoenix said. Kay snickered. "Hey!"

_ "Anyway, I don't believe that now is the best time to be exploring potentially dangerous territory," Suchiru said, dismissing the dragonborn. She frowned, turning to Zanne._

_ "You want to check it out, don't you?" she asked. Zanne nodded after a moment._

_ "So long as you don't hurt anyone in the party…"_

_ "Heironeous, you're with me too, right?"_

_ "Uh, I don't know. I mean, with just the three of us-"_

_ "It's either Keylith or the dungeon," she pointed out. Heironeous went pale._

_ "To the dungeon!" he cried, running back into the forest._

_ "…aren't we going after him?" Zanne asked._

_ "In a minute," Eusapia said._

_ "Hey, Tryn," she whispered, beckoning the halfling closer, "I'll give you 5 silver to get Jin to chase you into the forest."_

_ "Make it 6 and you've got a deal," Tryn said, grinning as Eusapia handed her over the coins._

_ "Hey Jin! I think your bird's dumb looking, and that you're not a real samurai!" Tryn shouted, fleeing into the woodlands as Jin lunged for her. Gin gave a shrill sheik as it flew after her, claws reflecting the moonlight._

_ "Mr. Crow, you wanna come with us?" Zanne asked. _

_ The half-elf gave a smile. "Of course - how can I say no to a pretty young fräu- girl?" he said, hopping to his feet._

Phoenix was glaring at him.

_ "Okay, you get the rest of them, I'll get Suchiru," Eusapia whispered. Zanne nodded before walking to where Badrick was teaching Keylith how to play poker._

_ Eusapia casually strode over to where Suchiru had given up talking to the poker-playing pair, carefully reaching for his spear. She had grabbed ahold of it just as the warlord grabbed her wrist with his claw-like hands. Eusapia looked up to receive a steely glare from him._

_ "Just what do you think you're doing?" he asked, just as Eusapia cried out, "Fire Ball!"_

Trucy eagerly rolled her dice as Edgeworth glared at her in disapproval.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" he asked again as Trucy read the number her dice showed her.

"Getting a 16! Whooo!" she said, looking to Athena.

"You're targeting the spear?" she asked. Trucy nodded.

"Well, since it doesn't really have an armor class, sure, it's a hit."

_Suchiru jumped backwards and dropped his spear as the wooden shaft burst into flames, Eusapia cackling as she grabbed the burning weapon._

_ "Why you little imp!" Suchiru said, voice bordering a growl, "you'll pay for that!"_

_ "Come and get me then!" she said, taking off into the forest and tossing away the remains of his spear. She grinned, hearing his footsteps not far behind her own. Soon enough she reached the doors of the dungeon, where the rest of the guild waiting for them. Zanne was currently trying to keep Jin from strangling Tryn, and it didn't look like she would be able to keep them apart much longer. Heironeous was trying to keep Crow between him and Keylith, which was not working in the slightest._

_ Eusapia was about to thank Zanne for helping her round the rest of them up when she was tackled to the ground by Suchiru, the teifling pinning her to the ground._

_ "Give me a reason I shouldn't kill you pathetic piece of dragonborn scum right now…" he growled. Eusapia laughed nervously._

"Hey, don't you think that's a little harsh?" Phoenix asked, Edgeworth glaring at him.

"She destroyed my weapon," he said, "and that's not even mentioning the fact she single-handedly caused our shipwreck."

"Well, yeah, but _killing_ her?" Phoenix asked, looking to Athena for support.

"Suchiru _is _a teifling…" she chided.

Phoenix sighed. "If I was sober, I'd stop you, you know that?"

"The point is that you are not, in fact, sober, so I shall continue as I please," Edgeworth said, pulling out his dice.

_Suchiru pulled a dagger from his boot, raising it to attack Eusapia._

_ "Now, now, Suchiru, is that anyway to treat a young maiden?" Crow asked. The teifling giving the bard a deathglare. "Eh, well, ah, whatever you think is best, oh benevolent guild leader!" Crow laughed nervously, promptly hiding behind Keylith. She slapped him away from her._

"Huh," Athena said, "you know, you're _supposed_ to roll for something like that, Mr. Edgeworth."

"He's good," Klavier said quickly. Edgeworth rolled his eyes.

_ "C'mon, lets go and check out the dungeon! I bet there's lots of neat treasure in it!" Tryn said, having convinced Jin to wring her neck at a later date._

_ "I was _trying_ to before Mr. All-high-and-mighty got in our way!" Eusapia said, trying to wriggle out of the warlord's grasp._

_ "Excuse me?" he growled._

_ "Well, we're all here, lets just go in now," Zanne said, "we'll sort everything out once we're back on the mainland. Sound fair?"_

_ "I believe I can live with that arrangement," Jin said, although he and Gin were still glaring daggers at Tryn._

_ "Suchiru?" Zanne said, as the teifling still had Eusapia pinned._

_ "…fine." he huffed, dusting himself off as he stood. Eusapia jumped to her feet, running up to the doors._

_ "Alright! Let's go kill some stuff!" she cried, flinging open the doors to reveal -_

"Alrighty, that's where we'll end for tonight!" Athena said, grinning as the group broke out in a mix of complaints.

"Whaaat!? I've been trying to get everyone to come to the door for aaaages now! Do we really have to?" Trucy said, pouting.

"I thinking we'd find more information on my brother's killer…" Apollo said.

"Your cousin. You were hoping to find information on your cousin's killer," Blackquill corrected.

"Whatever," Apollo shrugged.

"So when are we going to meet again?" Kay asked.

"Dunno. Maybe once I finish the case I got today?" Athena said.

Phoenix nodded. "Yes, that should keep you busy for a few days. I _would_ like to be able to sleep…" he said, yawning.

"That settles it - see you all back here in a couple nights!" Trucy said, grinning from ear to ear. As the rest of the guild bade their good-nights and started to leave, Trucy realized she was still in her full costume.

_I wonder if Daddy would notice if I slept in my costume and wore it tomorrow, too… I don't think he would._

* * *

**(A/N: Don't expect the next part of this anytime soon, but feel free to bug me through Airey, because it is more likely then not that I will completely forget about this being a thing I am in charge of now. I will try my best to get this done, and I **_**do **_**actually have an ending in mind for this story, so I will try and come back to it as soon as I can ****be bothered to write more of it****. Until then!)**


	3. Chapter 3

Apollo lifted his eyes from the Autopsy Report. He had been leafing through it when his phone on his desk started vibrating and playing the Steel Samurai theme ring tone.

_I swear, I need to change the passcode on my phone every other week to keep Trucy out of it, _he thought with a sigh as he reached for his phone, _she really needs to stop changing the ringtone, too. It stopped being funny the first time…_

Glancing down at the caller ID, he recognized Ema Skye's phone number.

_Oh, good - maybe she managed to get more details on the case, _he thought as he answered.

"Hello, this is Apollo Justice-"

"You have a Dungeons and Dragons guild at your office?!" Ema cried on the other end as Apollo held the phone away from his ear.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," he said, "Do you have anything else on the case?"

"Just hold on a second, let me finish here!" she said. Apollo rolled his eyes.

_Why is it that I always end up with the weirdest co-workers? _he asked himself.

"How come you never mentioned it before? I've been trying to find a guild for ages!" she said. Apollo sighed inwardly.

"We've got a pretty large group as it is," he said, "I mean, it's the entire agency, Pearl, Edgeworth and his assistant, Prosecutor Gavin-"

"Wait, the Glimmerous Fop is in your guild?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just said that," Apollo said, scribbling a note on the file.

"How the heck did he get in? Has he even played before?" she asked.

"Athena invited everyone. Go be annoyed at her, not me," he said, "Now could you please tell me if you have any more information on the case? Because I kinda need to get back to work."

There was a long stretch of silence.

"Ms. Skye?" he said. No answer. He pulled the phone away from his ear to see that she had hung up on him.

_You've got to be kidding me, _he thought with a groan, sinking back into his chair as he stared at the ceiling.

"Hey, Apollo?" Athena said. Apollo glanced up from his desk to where his co-worker was on the sofa.

"What?" he said.

"Do you know why I have over twenty texts, voicemails, and missed calls from Detective Skye?" she asked, "Did your phone die or something when she was trying to send you more evidence?"

"Believe me, if that was the case, I'd be much more enthusiastic." He sighed.

"… What the..?" she muttered, eyes narrowing as she tapped and swiped at the screen.

"Y'know, I think I should be going now," Apollo said, moving towards the door.

"Huh? Where are you going?" she asked.

"Trucy taped this to my desk this morning," he said, holding up a slip of paper. "Apparently you both made a grocery list for tonight?"

"Oh, yeah, that," Athena said.

"Why exactly do I have to go and get everything?" he asked.

"Because Trucy can't drive and I'm busy plotting," she said.

"…None of us can drive," Apollo pointed out.

"Details, details," she said, waving him off. "Oh, and I'd be quick if I were you," she added.

"Any reason in specific?" he asked.

"It sounds like Detective Skye might be looking for you," she said, once more fiddling with her phone.

_Why can't I have normal friends..? _he wondered, sighing as he left the office.

—-

"Hey, guys, I'm back-" Apollo started.

"About time! We're all here!" Trucy called.

"Ja, Herr Forehead. You're late," Klavier added.

"Since when have you gotten here on time?" Apollo asked, setting the bags on the receptionist's desk.

"I am fashionably late - that's on time for someone like me," Klavier said. Apollo moved to close the door with a sigh.

_It's called fashionably _late _for a reason, Gavin,_ he thought.

The door was an inch from closing when it burst open, the side of the door hitting Apollo in the face as he stumbled backwards.

"What're you doing so close to the door Apollo? Jeez, pay attention," Ema said. Apollo tentatively felt the side of his face. "… What are you doing on the floor?" she added.

"I can't feel half of my face," he said. _I think my nose might be bleeding._

"Apollo, who are you talking to?" Kay asked.

"Hey, Fop, move over," Ema said, walking past Apollo to where the other were seated.

"Eh? When did you get here, Fräulein?" Klavier asked.

"Just now. Now move over, make room for me," she said.

"Uh… Hello..?" Athena said as Apollo got to his feet.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," he called, "Just internal bleeding. In my face."

His comment appeared to go unnoticed by the rest of his co-workers as he went to fetch ice.

"So are you Detective Skye?" Apollo heard Athena ask, "It's good to finally meet you in person."

"Why exactly are you here?" Edgeworth asked as Apollo stepped back into the room with the ice packet wrapped in a towel against his face.

"I'm here the same reason all of you are - Dungeons and Dragons," she said.

_Please no, _Apollo thought.

"Huh? I didn't know you'd be into… not science-fiction stuff…" Phoenix said.

"Here's my sheet," she said, handing a set of papers to Athena as Apollo took his seat.

"Clea Koff, human alchemist," Athena read aloud, "True Neutral alignment, follower of Ioun."

"Tch. Another human," Blackquill muttered. Pearl gave him a look of disapproval.

"Humans aren't bad…" she said.

"They're boring," he said; Taka gave a cry of agreement.

"We'll see about that, Animoo boy," she said. Blackquill kept his glare on her long after she started ignoring him.

"Uh, well, I don't know if you'd be able to hop into the campaign tonight," Athena said, "since the group's kinda in the middle of a quest."

"Yeah! We're finding Apollo's brother's killer!" Trucy said.

"Cousin," Blackquill said.

"Anyways," Kay said.

"Well, I don't see reason you couldn't work some magic, Fräulein Cykes," Klavier said, "since you seem capable in your role of creating absolutely verrückt situations and somehow making it work fine."

"I have a lot of experience. Mostly from my real job, actually," Athena said, nodding and looking thoughtful.

"Wait, what?" Phoenix said.

"Yeah, sure, why not!" Athena said, grinning, "I'll make it work. Welcome to the guild, Ms. Skye!"

_Save me now, whichever deity it was Heironeous worships…_ Apollo thought, his antenna drooping with a sigh.

"Anyways, where were we?" Athena said, flipping through her notes, "Ah! Yes!"

_Standing before the now-opened double doors that stood in the midst of the trees and overgrowth, the party stared into a tunnel lit by torches or other magic lights. Even from the outside, the scent of mildew and stale air was strong. A few rats skittered outside, causing Zanne to squeak and hide behind Eusapia as they ran past._

_"Ew. I guess I should have known this place was gonna be run down judging by the outside, but this is just nasty," Tryn said as they walked further into the building, wrinkling her nose as the smell of something rotten grew._

_"Yeah, maybe this wasn't the best idea…. We should have at least waited until morning - I can't see a thing," Zanne said, walking on her toes as to avoid the mold growing in patches on the floor._

_"I don't even think there are any windows in here anyways. I don't see any moon light coming from anywhere other then behind us," Keylith said, holding onto Heironeous' hand._

_"Can you please let go of me?" he asked for what felt like the tenth time in the past five minutes._

_"Nope," she said, tightening her grip, "I'm not letting anything get you while we're in here."_

Apollo could have sworn he saw Ema glaring at Athena, but decided not ask about it. He'd rather not have to deal with either of them for the moment.

_"Well there is a whole lot of moss and stuff growing on the walls," Eusapia said, "One quick Fire Ball spell and this whole place would be brighter than-"_

_"If you didn't roast us alive, you would smother us with the smoke," Jin said, "As Keylith mentioned, there don't appear to be any methods of airing the building out."_

_"But if we keep the doors open -"_

_"I'm vetoing that course of action. If you attempt to proceed with it, I will personally slay you," Suchiru said. Eusapia laughed nervously, but didn't try to argue further._

_They walked on in eery silence for several more minutes with the occasional rat or overly-large cockroach skittering past them. A few of them had lit their SunRods for light as the darkness of the ruin quickly engulfed them. Zanne looked particularly uneasy, eyeing the filth-covered walls as if they might try and attack her. Heironeous was starting to lose the feeling in his arm from Keylith progressively tightening her grip on him._

_Normally the darkness didn't bother Heironeous, and between his dark vision and the light from the SunRods, it wasn't even _that _dark. But it started to get to him when he thought he heard a voice coming from the walls._

_"Uh, guys, did you hear that?" he asked._

_"H-hear what?! I-I-I didn't hear anything!" Keylith squeaked._

_"Oh, good, I thought that was just me!" Tryn said with a laugh._

_"Gin believes he heard something as well," Jin added._

_"Hear what?" Eusapia asked, looking rather annoyed, "I can't really hear much over Phoenix's drunken babbling."_

_There was a stretch of silence, Suchiru pausing in his tracks._

_"…Did one of you drag him along without me noticing?" Suchiru asked, glancing over his shoulder to the rest of the group._

_"Uh, I didn't, did you?" Tryn asked Eusapia._

_"Um," was the only thing the dragonborn said, her expression blank._

"Did you guys actually leave me on the beach?" Phoenix asked, looking rather offended.

"Well, to be honest, you were drunk out of your mind for the several hours before you passed out," Apollo said, "No one really noticed you where gone since we ended within two minutes of getting to the dungeon."

"Uh, so does that mean we have to send someone back to go and get him?" Kay asked, "Because I'm not."

"Hey!" Phoenix said, "I'm letting you all meet at my office, I think you're obligated to go and get me!"

"I thought you wouldn't have gotten drunk within the second session of our campaign," Edgeworth sighed.

"You should have told me your guild was this dysfunctional _before_ I showed up, Apollo," Ema said, throwing a Snackoo at him.

"I wasn't planning on you coming!" he cried, antenna drooping. She threw another Snackoo at him.

_Half an hour and a whole lot of complaining later, they group had retrieved the now-hungover and slightly more responsive Phoenix._

_"Never again," he mumbled as he followed behind the others, "will I go drinking with Dwarves.."_

_"I'm not letting you drink with Dwarves again." Suchiru said, not even looking back to the Dragonborn, "retrieving you was a complete and utter waste of time."_

_"Either way, we're all together now, let's just keep going," Zanne said. Eusapia nodded._

_"Yeah! I wanna go and kill something already!" she cried._

_"How about your brother for a target?" Jin said, "He's been dead weight thus far."_

_"Well, since you're offering…" Eusapia said, grinning as her claws lit up with orbs of fire._

"How about no," Phoenix said, glaring at Trucy.

_The firelight was quickly extinguished, the Dragonborn muttering threats and ill-wishes to some outer force or another. Another few moments of silence ensued before Heironeous heard the walls speak again. Except this time is was very clearly someone shouting at the end of the wall._

_"Get off of me, scaly, or I'll skin you and wear you as a new coat!"_

_"Sounds like someone beating you to your game of kill-everything-in-sight, fr- Eusapia," Crow laughed, the Dragonborn glaring at him._

_"Can I kill him-"_

_"No, Eusapia," Zanne cut her short with a stern expression._

_"Come on! If there's people being killed that means bodies to loot, hurry up!" Tryn said, running ahead of the group. The others followed quickly after her; Eusapia was already conjuring flaming orbs to throw at the first entity she saw._

_Heironeous drew his battle-axe as the group reached the end of the corridor and entered a large room. There were several round, wooden tables in the room, similarly fashioned stools surrounding them. On the far side of the room he could see a second door, but what was currently distracting him was that most of the floor was covered in was appeared to be acidic puddles._

_In the center of the room stood a woman in a long white coat, steam-punk goggles resting on her forehead. She was awkwardly perched on a half-disintegrated table, kicking at the Kolbold that was trying to sink its teeth into her leg._

_"Do you want another vial of Black Dragon saliva or are we done here!?" She shouted, forcing the smaller creature into the puddle of green-gray liquid underneath the table. Heironeous couldn't look away as he watched the lizard-beast sink into the acid, it's shrieking ringing out in the room as it slowly vanished into nothing._

Well, I'm never going to be able to erase _that_ from my memory_, he thought with a shudder._

_"Woah," Eusapia breathed, "She's amazing…"_

_"I don't think you need another bad influence in your life," Suchiru said._

_"Hey! I'm not a bad influence!" Phoenix said._

_"On a scale of one to ten, how hungover are you?" Crow asked. Phoenix muttered something inaudible under his breath._

_"Hello there, uh, miss," Zanne said, the woman looking down towards them, "are you-"_

_"Don't step any closer if you want to keep your feet attached to your legs," the woman said, carefully climbing off of her perch and avoiding the acidic puddle._

_"Who are you, exactly?" Suchiru asked, his eyebrow arched in question._

_"Clea Koff," she said, giving a proud smile, "though, who are you guys?"_

_The guild members looked at each other and then at Clea and filled her in. "Oh. Then you'll probably call me the best thing that's ever happened to you dungeon-crawlers," Clea concluded._

_"Oh?" Keylith said, tone dry, "What makes you say that?"_

_"I'm an alchemist - I can make almost anything, healing potions, poison tonics, sleeping flasks, you name it," Clea said._

_"Ah. So you brew potions," Suchiru said, "I suppose that would explain the… flesh-eating puddles."_

_"Oh, actually, that's just one of my regents I dropped when the Kolbolds attacked me," she said, "Black Dragon saliva is harder to come by. Really stinks it went to waste on a few scaly pests."_

_"Why are you in this dungeon?" Jin asked, "It appeared to be abandoned."_

_"I came down here to gather more regents," she shrugged, "The moss down here is pretty good for some of the potions I'm working on, not to mention the bat guano."_

_"…Bat guano?" Tryn said, making a face, "For potions? Yuck."_

_"No, well, yes, but not the kind you drink," Clea said, "It's used for a lot of fire-based effects."_

_"Fire?" Eusapia said, an excited gleam in her eyes._

_"Anyways, I'll stick with you guys for now," Clea said, "You look like a decently-armed group, and I don't want to loose any more ingredients to pests."_

_"I suppose an alchemist would prove to be rather useful…" Suchiru said._

_"I don't trust her," Keylith muttered, eyes narrowed in suspicion._

_"Why not? She seems fine to me," Heironeous said._

_"Fine? Did you _see _what she did to that kolbold?" Keylith asked, "When you find random strangers in dungeons, you don't let them follow you! We could be next!"_

_"Onwards - the rest of this dungeon's expanse has me rather interested," Jin said, moving to step over the tables and towards the other door._

_"Can you perhaps magic up an antidote for hangover?" Suchiru asked as he followed after Jin, "Our… ranger happened to find Dwarven ale rather appealing."_

_"Magic?" Clea echoed, "I don't - Magic? No no no no, alchemy is not _magic, _alchemy is _science._"_

_"…Can you perhaps science up an antidote for hangover?" Suchiru repeated, rolling his eyes._

_"Yes, I probably can," she said, smiling._

_"Y'know, Jin's method seemed to work just fine…" Keylith said._

_"I'm not letting him knock me out again," Phoenix groaned._

_"You didn't really let him the first time," Eusapia laughed._

_The rest of the guild paused in front of the door. Jin crouched as he inspected the edges of the frame._

_"Tryn, I want you to sneak inside and tell me how many monsters are in this next room," Jin said as he stood._

_"What? Why me?" Tryn asked._

_"Because you're the rogue. Sneaking around is your job, not mine."_

_"Alright, fine. If I'm not out in five minutes or you hear me screaming, come in and save me," she said, Suchiru sighing._

_Tryn slowly opened the door, the group wincing at the loud creak that sounded from the rusted hinges. She slipped inside without a sound, the door closing behind her._

_"…So now what?" Baldrick asked, "Do we just plan on waitin' for tha lass?"_

_"Seeing as there is no other option at the moment, yes, we wait," Jin said, sitting cross-legged besides the door._

_"Actually, we could just check out the other halls or rooms or something instead," Keylith said._

_"That wouldn't be smart - who knows how many Kobolds are in here?" Clea said with a scoff._

_"Apparently not enough to kill one measly alchemist…" Keylith muttered, Heironeous wondering if Clea was ignoring her or simply didn't hear._

Athena handed a folded piece of paper to Kay, who eagerly unfolded it. She put on a determined look with a nod, Athena smiling slyly from behind her folder.

_"Okay guys," Tryn said as she re-entered the room, "there's about a dozen of lizard people in there, all of them are armed."_

_"Just as I suspected," Jin said, "Was there anything else in the room?"_

_"A hallway to the left, and a bunch of storage boxes, but not much else," Tryn said, "I'm pretty sure we could sneak past all of them to the other room if we tried."_

_"I don't think that's likely." Suchiru said._

_"We might have to," Jin said, the Tiefling giving him an inquisitive look._

_"What do you mean?" Suchiru asked._

_"I've heard rumors that the killer of Heironeous' brother was holed up in some old ruins south of Calimport," Keylith said._

_"Cousin," Jin corrected, nodding._

_"He could be here, in this very building, for all we know!" Kaylith continued._

_"Really?" Heironeous said, "How come you never said anything about it?"_

_"I told Jin, and besides our deal it never really came up," she shrugged._

"You couldn't have told us?" Apollo said, Taka glaring at him on Blackquill's behalf.

"As Keylith said, it never came up," he said, reaching up to stroke the top of Taka's beak. Apollo could have sworn he saw the bird smirking at him.

_Tryn quietly eased the door open again, leaving it open for the others as she darted around the corner. Suchiru was next, Jin following closely behind and keeping a hand clamped over Phoenix's snout. Zanne and Eusapia went next, Badrick and Crow lingering behind the DragonBorn before continuing. Clea and Keylith glared at each other in a silent argument before Clea proceeded first. To Heironeous' relief, Keylith wasn't holding onto his hand anymore. Although when her hands went to the sword at her side he did have to wonder if it was because of Clea or the Lizard-folk they were avoiding._

_As Tryn had said, the room was mostly bare. There was a table to the center, most of the Lizard-folk sitting around it and talking to each other in a language he didn't understand. A few others were poking around some of the other boxes on the far side of the room. Thankfully, a good number of the crates were on the left side of the room, effectively hiding the majority of the group as they snuck along the wall towards their next door._

_He was surprised they had gotten half-way without anyone making any noise. But then it became a disappointment that they only got half-way._

_"C'mon, move it," Keylith hissed._

_"Stop pushing me, human," Clea said, glaring at Keylith from over her shoulder._

_"Not my fault you're walking so slow." Keylith said, "And what, you're a human too!"_

_"Shut up, you're going to get us caught!"_

_"You shut up!"_

_"Both of you be quiet or I will silence you myself," Suchiru growled from the front. Both of them went quiet for a moment._

_That was before Keylith not-so-subtly tried to push around Clea to get in front. Clea, in response, stuck out her leg, tripping her offender._

_Into the boxes they were hiding behind._

_Everyone froze when the sound of wood splintering and boxes toppling filled the room; a very angry-looking Keylith glared up at Clea, who looked rather satisfied. All of the Lizard-folk were staring at the group, weapons drawn._

"Roll for initiative!" Athena called out, everyone either groaning or face-palming. Except Trucy. She seemed rather excited by the prospect of fighting.

"I call dibs on the gold!" she called.

_It was _chaos_._

_Eusapia was the first to start throwing spells: he was conjuring flames and launching them into the thick of the monsters. Tryn was attempting to use Badrick as a meat-shield to protect herself from a spear, and Zanne took refuge within one of the intact boxes before she could be noticed. Jin had drawn his sword and leapt into the fray along side Shuchiru, Gin screeching overhead. Crow could be heard singing from somewhere in the thick of the fight along with the lively music of his guitar. Keylith was trying to strangle Clea, the pair wrestling in the wreckage and shouting at each other. Heironeous was nearly shot by Phoenix while he (Phoenix) fended for himself against a pair of lizard-folk, though the dragonborn's aim was… less then admirable._

Apollo was having trouble thinking as Klavier screamed frantically in German when faced with potentially being impaled. Although he wasn't sure what she was saying, Athena was shouting back at him. They seemed to reach some sort of conclusion after a brief stare-down, Klavier appearing to have lost whatever argument (conversation?) they had.

"Alright, ah, I won't move yet, and I will instead use Vicious Mockery," he said. Athena nodded and glanced at something behind her screen.

"Go for it."

Klavier's already somewhat desperate expression paled at the dice he rolled, Kay leaning over to see the result.

"Ooh, natural 1." She said, whistling, "Good luck, bard."

_"Uh, your mother was a skink!"_ _Crow shouted at the Lizardman closest to him and pointing at it accusingly. It paused, as if confused, head tilted to the side. The frills around its neck raised up slightly, opening its mouth and making a strange, warbling sound._

Blackquill raised a brow, glancing to Athena and then to Klavier.

"What is it doing?" Klavier asked him, not taking his weary stare from Athena. Blackquill merely turned back to his character sheet with an amused smile on the corner of his lips.

_Eventually the group managed to cull most of the Lizard-folk. Only two remained, both of which were flanking Crow: the one he had 'insulted' earlier (who had been oddly complacent ever since) and a second who was readying to strike him with its weapon._

Athena rolled a few dice, her eyebrows drawn together in thought. A moment passed before she flipped through one of her books.

"Hey, Klavier, what's your Charisma again?" she asked.

"27, Fräulein."

_As the Lizardman pulled back his scimitar to lunge at the half-elf, another blur of scales intercepted. The other Lizardman - Crow's previous assailant - drove it's spear through the first, the sharpened head protruding from the spine of the new attacker. It thrashed a moment before it stilled, the traitorous lizard dropping its weapon and letting its companion slump to the floor._

_It turned back to face Crow, frills raised and continuing to warble. It looked pleased with itself, bobbing its head and whipping its tail to and fro._

_"What," Crow said, "just happened. What is happening."_

_"It would appear," Jin said as he flicked his blade before sheathing it, "that you have an admirer in this Lizard-folk."_

_"What," Crow repeated._

_"They are fairly simple-minded creatures. It seems it has taken a liking to…" Jin paused, looking Crow up and down, "frankly, I'm not sure what it sees in you, but then again they aren't precisely the _brightest_ creatures."_

_"Is… are you saying it's trying to woo me?" Crow asked. Jin shrugged. Eusapia was doubled over in laughter._

_"This is ridiculous." Suchiru sighed, rolling his eyes, "Kill it and let us move on -"_

_"What!? No way! It could be useful!" Tyrn said, "If it isn't, at least it's funny."_

_Eusapia looked like she was going to try and comment through her hardly-contained laughter, but shouting from the other side of the room interrupted._

_"If you were looking where you were going, you wouldn't have made all that racket and gotten us attacked!" Clea huffed at Keylith, unhooking a pouch from her belt._

_"You - you _tripped _me!" Keylith cried, "Sabotage! Mutiny!"_

_"Mutiny? You're not even in charge!"_

_"I've been here longer, I rank higher then you, dungeon-crawler!"_

_"Dungeon-crawler?!"_

"Apollo, control your girlfriends," Trucy snickered, her comment either unheard or ignored by Ema. Apollo sighed, antenna drooping as he hid his face with a hand.

"I didn't ask for this…"

_"You are both at fault, and the damage has been done. See to it that it does not happen again," Jin said, glaring at the two of them. Keylith looked sufficiently shamed from his glare alone, and Clea moved on muttering about 'stupid swordsman'._

_"Can we loot the bodies already?" Tryn asked. Suchiru shrugged as he counted out a number of coins in his hands._

_"I've already collected what I desired from them - you are free to scavenge," he said, not looking up._

_"Wh - Cheater! I called dibs!" Eusapia cried, turning to Zanne, "Didn't I call dibs?"_

_"Um, I think so? I was trying not to die, so I forget…" she said, biting her thumbnail._

If it was anyone else_, Heironeous thought, _I would have thought she was being sarcastic.

_There wasn't much else of value in the Lizard-folk's possession, any coins having been taken by Suchiru while the others were distracted by Crow's newfound fan. Zanne found a fancy brooch of some kind, shaped as either some sort of misshapen star or another five-pointed symbol._

_"I think I've seen this symbol before…_ Athena, can I roll to see if I know what it is?" Pearl asked, Athena nodding.

"Go for it - you're trained in Religion, right?"

"Yes, um… 18?"

_"Uh, guys?" Zanne said, looking up from the odd trinket, "This is Tiamat's symbol."_

_"Who?" Phoenix asked, looking up from examining one of the lizard corpses._

_"Tiamat - she's an evil goddess. She's a five-headed Hydra," she said, biting her lip, "She's a goddess of greed, and a lot of dragons worship her. I think she has some clerics and paladins, too…"_

_"Wait, so is this some sort of cult-hangout spot?" Tryn asked._

_"There could be dragons here, too?" Crow asked, holding his precious - and very flammable - guitar closer to himself. The Lizard-folk made some sort of low crooning sound, rubbing its head against his side in what was probably meant as a comforting gesture._

_"Aren't they usually… really big?" Phoenix asked, looking around the room, "I don't think one would be able to fit down here."_

_"Younglings can be the size of a full-grown horse. If it hatched in the last century, it could easily make this dungeon its lair." Suchiru said, eyeing the archway that they had been originally heading toward._

_"…Oh."_

_"Aren't you, like, half dragon? Shouldn't you know all this?" Heironeous asked, Jin rolling his eyes._

_"Dragonborn and Half-dragons are two entirely different creatures," the samurai said as if it was obvious. Eusapia gave a nod of agreement before making a face at Phoenix._

"What? How was I supposed to know that?" Phoenix asked.

"You read the books, Daddy," Trucy said with a smug smile.

_"Anyways," Suchiru said with a sigh, "the threat has been dealt with, and we can continue onward. I am certain we will be able to discern the exact nature of this dungeon if we continue."_

_"Yeah! Let's find some more lizards to kill!" Eusapia cried, her claws alight with orbs of fire as she rushed toward the hallway entrance. Zanne made an alarmed sound before she pocketed the symbol and took off after her ally._

_"Um, so what do we do with this one?" Crow asked, staring at the Lizardman that had yet to leave his side._

_"I vote we take it with us!" Tryn said, "And name it, ooh, we should give it a name if it's going to be our newest party member!"_

_"Party member? Please, as if I would let that-"_

_"How about Alex?" Clea suggested, ignoring Suchiru's protest, "Looks like an Alex to me."_

_"Why do you want to keep it?" Heironeous asked._

_"Mostly since Crow doesn't seem to like it," she said, shrugging, and she munched on something from her belt's pouch._

_"Name or not, I will not allow a creature to be apart of this already rag-tag team of-"_

_"Alex, c'mon, you're going to come with us!" Tryn said, grinning at the Lizard-folk._

"Wait, it can understand me, right?" Kay asked. Shuffling papers sounded on the other side of Athena's folder.

_The lizard - now called Alex - gave a chirping noise, seemingly excited by Tryn's words._

_"Oh my gosh guys it can understand us!" she said. Crow frowned._

_"Then how did it mistake my insult for flirting?!" he cried._

Apollo couldn't help but notice that Athena had slipped scraps of paper to both Pearl and Trucy.

_"Hey, uh, guys, didn't Zanne and Eusapia run off a second ago?" Heironeous asked, glancing down the hall they left down, "Shouldn't we go and-"_

_A scream cut him off; Gin started at the sound with a squawk. Phoenix shared a look with Suchiru. Tryn voiced the thought in everyone's minds:_

_"That was Zanne!"_

_In an instant, everyone was running down the hallway, Jin and Suchiru leading the charge, Gin swooping just ahead of them. The hall took a right turn, Heironeous nearly crashing into Crow when the party came to a sudden stop. He couldn't see past or over the group, but he could hear._

_"-Eusapia, cut it out with the fire, you're not _helping!"_ Zanne's voice said, a nervous squeak._

_"Aw, c'mon, we can take 'em! What, there's like, fifteen of them?" Eusapia said, "We've got this in the bag - Oh hey, everyone finally showed up."_

_Heironeous pushed his way past Alex and Crow to peer past Jin, pausing when he saw the room that the hallway let into._

_He couldn't see much of the room aside from the space immediately surrounding Eusapia and Zanne, who where back-to-back with each other. At least a dozen or more Lizard-folk surrounded them, but the group's attention drew to the party as Eusapia spoke. For a few moments, no one spoke or moved._

"I want to bluff."

Apollo looked at Phoneix, a little irritated- and then realized that it wasn't Phoenix at all. It was _Edgeworth _that had said that. _What_!?

"And you're going to help me," Edgeworth added, pointing at Phoenix.

"Me? Weren't you complaining when I did that last session?" Phoenix asked. Edgeworth didn't answer. Athena watched on with a curious expression.

The two of them rolled.

"19," Edgeworth said.

"Natural 20," Phoenix said, "but what exactly am I doing-"

_"Apologizes, guards, our daughters have a way of getting ahead of themselves." Suchiru said, striding to stand tall besides Eusapia and Zanne, snagging Phoenix by the elbow and pulling him along the way._

"Our _what,"_ Phoenix said. Edgeworth glared at him.

"Play along, I have a plan."

_"Uh, yes. Our daughter. Daughters," Phoenix said, giving Suchiru a look that said "What are you doing?!"_

_"Eusapia, what have I told you about threatening our hosts with fire?" Suchiru said, Eusapia staring wide-eyed before snuffing out the flames in her claws._

_"Um… not to?" she guessed. Suchiru gave a stern nod._

_"These are your whelps?" one of the Lizardmen hissed, stepping forwards, "Why are you here? You say we are hosts, but we have not allowed you into our domain."_

_"We - my fiancé and I - came with our family to see your head cleric. We wished to ensure our union would have Tiamat's blessing," Suchiru said, Phoenix still staring blankly at him._

_The lizard that had spoken leaned to look past the frontmost group to where Clea, Keylith, Tryn, Heironeous, Jin, Crow, and Alex stood. Gin re-alighted on Jin's shoulder, staring down the Lizard-folk._

_"This is your family?" It asked. It was hard to tell with its odd accent, but it sounded as if it couldn't tell if they were joking or not._

_"Adopted," Suchiru replied without missing a beat._

_There was another pause. The Lizardman was hunching forwards to give Suchiru a scrutinizing stare, Suchiru was holding his gaze with head held high, and Phoenix was watching the entire exchange with a befuddled expression. Zanne was by now hiding behind Suchiru. Eusapia stood in between the group of Lizard-folk and the party._

_"…well why didn't you just tell the first guards instead of coming all the way down here?" the Lizardman asked, straightening itself, "Would've been faster - cleric's in the other direction."_

_"We would have, but it appeared that there had been some sort of attack. The room we passed on our way here was in shambles - we honestly were more concerned about finding survivors at the time," Suchiru said, stepping to the side when the Lizardman started to walk past him and down the hall. A few other of the lizards followed, but the majority remained in the room._

_"I'll report it to the cleric since I'm taking you there anyways," it said, the party turning around to follow after it and Suchiru, who had linked arms with Phoenix at that point. Phoenix still looked confused, but wasn't saying anything._

_The party-plus-escorts passed through the room of their first encounter, stepping over and around the bloodied bodies with little to no regard. Zanne looked a little pale when one of their guides paused to pluck a polished symbol much like the one she found from a different body, ignoring the corpse in favor of pocketing the trinket._

_The acidic puddles had disappeared, although recesses in the ground where the stonework had been disintegrated remained in their places. The Lizardmen led them down another corridor to the left that Heironeous hadn't seen before, and judging by the looks of the other party members, most of them had missed it as well._

"Wait, no one else realized that was there?" Kay asked, "I thought we were just ignoring it."

The rest at the table gave her stares ranging from annoyed to blank.

"What? I'm a thief, I've got a good eye for details!" she said. Edgeworth sighed.

"Yes, but actually pointing these details out would certainly be beneficial," he said.

_A pair of black double doors came into view at the end of the hallway, torch in sconces burning brightly on either side. In the center of the two doors was a gilded crest, identical to the five-headed symbol Zanne had found. Each head had a unique set of gems encrusted for eyes, ten tiny eyes watching them as the group approached. The lead Lizardman stepped up to the door, pounding it with its fist before reaching to pull it open-_

"And that's all we have time for tonight, amigos!" Athena said, clapping her hands together. There were various groans and an indignant "Whaaat?!" from Trucy.

"Is that Lizard-thing still going to be following me?" Klavier asked, looking a mix of worried and amused.

"Is that sword-mage still going to be following me?" Apollo added, antenna drooping.

"She'd better not…" Ema mumbled.

"So… we're engaged?" Phoenix asked, Edgeworth glaring at him.

"Y'know, I wonder what Tiefling-Dragonborn hybrids would look like," Athena said, musing aloud, "I mean, I know with this whole bluff-thing, everyone's basically adopted, but what if-"

Edgeworth was out the door before she could finish her sentence, dice and papers gathered in the blink of an eye and the door slamming shut behind him.

"Hey, I say that worked out pretty well," Kay said, leaning back in her chair, "Now we know there's a boss here - and you said this goddess is one for greed, right Pearl? I bet there's _loads_ of treasure!"

"Indeed. Plus, the underlings are leading us past any other threats without argument. This is working in our favor," Blackquill added, nodding, Taka nuzzling into his hand.

"So… tomorrow night?" Trucy asked hopefully.

"We're in the middle of a case, Trucy," Apollo said. Klavier nodded.

"Ah, yes - speaking of which, I will see you in court tomorrow, Herr Forehead," he said as he got to his feet, "And Fräulein Skye, I will need that updated autopsy before the trail is in session."

"Wait, updated autopsy?" Apollo said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever, fop," Ema said, pelting him with a snackoo as she made her way for the door, "No promises."

"Wait wait wait, Ema, _updated_-" Apollo didn't have time to finish, as she shut the door behind her with Apollo half out of his chair and pointing uselessly after her.

"Good luck, Herr Forehead!" Klavier said with a laugh before he, too, left.

"…So who's helping me clean up?" Athena asked. Apollo groaned.


End file.
